Anonymous
09/13/2025 13:29
Subject: Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
Holton has lots of students who were admitted when they were 8 years old.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 12:57
Subject: Re:Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
Anonymous wrote:^my top public HS was at 5.4%. New Trier (top public school of wealthy kids in Chicago suburbs) is over 4%.
Should the DMV beat those public school percentages, particularly since we are talking top privates?
This year, Blair and TJ are, respectively, at 4 percent and over 20 percent. The DC private school NMSFs don’t seem to be available publicly yet. But based on the Maryland list above, Holton is at 12 percent.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 12:55
Subject: Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
All of the top privates have dozens of students who joined before they were 10 years old.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 12:51
Subject: Re:Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
^my top public HS was at 5.4%. New Trier (top public school of wealthy kids in Chicago suburbs) is over 4%.
Should the DMV beat those public school percentages, particularly since we are talking top privates?
Should the DMV beat those public school percentages, particularly since we are talking top privates?
Anonymous
09/13/2025 12:48
Subject: Re:Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t private schools want the information on social media so it’s available to prospective families applying this year?
Why?
Maybe some families would infer that the schools with semifinalists have more rigorous curricula?
What makes you think that would be a reasonable inference?
Doesn’t it make sense that these schools are at the top of the list given how rigorous they are?
Sidwell (11)
GDS (7)
STA (6)
NCS (3)
I'm a former NMSF who went to bad public schools and I tend to think the award is not that correlated to school (these kids would have been NMSFs anywhere). The list is interesting bc it indicates where these families like to go, and that probably correlates with rigor.
However Sidwell number is so good I wonder if Sidwell is actually doing something active that helps prepare kids to do their very best on the PSAT.
Looking at the numbers. Isn’t that only 3% of the Sidwell group of test takers? I’d have thought the percentage would be at least 5% or more.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 12:33
Subject: Re:Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t private schools want the information on social media so it’s available to prospective families applying this year?
Why?
Maybe some families would infer that the schools with semifinalists have more rigorous curricula?
What makes you think that would be a reasonable inference?
Doesn’t it make sense that these schools are at the top of the list given how rigorous they are?
Sidwell (11)
GDS (7)
STA (6)
NCS (3)
This year, Holton has 12 (out of about 100 girls).
Anonymous
09/13/2025 11:57
Subject: Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This isn’t to diss kids with high scores on the PSAT. They are certainly smart! But they aren’t smarter/better prepared for college than kids with middling scores on the PSAT who go on later to attain a high score on the SAT during their junior year or fall of senior year. NMSF success just means that the students prepped earlier. It’s bizarre that there is even a metric to weigh the test scores of 10th graders by individual states let alone to award prizes and have schools publicizing the results. In what other realm do we lionize those who excel *in practice* thanks to extra/early tutoring?
Agree that plenty of students don’t do as well on the PSAT as they do after prepping for the SAT. But my NMSF did zero prep for the PSAT so in that, you’re wrong.
Well of course there are kids who take the PSAT cold and become NMSF. But for every one of these there are many others who do 3 months of intensive prep the summer before junior year. There are literally hundreds of test-prep companies that offer tutoring packages for this.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 11:41
Subject: Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
Anonymous wrote:This isn’t to diss kids with high scores on the PSAT. They are certainly smart! But they aren’t smarter/better prepared for college than kids with middling scores on the PSAT who go on later to attain a high score on the SAT during their junior year or fall of senior year. NMSF success just means that the students prepped earlier. It’s bizarre that there is even a metric to weigh the test scores of 10th graders by individual states let alone to award prizes and have schools publicizing the results. In what other realm do we lionize those who excel *in practice* thanks to extra/early tutoring?
Agree that plenty of students don’t do as well on the PSAT as they do after prepping for the SAT. But my NMSF did zero prep for the PSAT so in that, you’re wrong.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 11:14
Subject: Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
Anonymous wrote:This isn’t to diss kids with high scores on the PSAT. They are certainly smart! But they aren’t smarter/better prepared for college than kids with middling scores on the PSAT who go on later to attain a high score on the SAT during their junior year or fall of senior year. NMSF success just means that the students prepped earlier. It’s bizarre that there is even a metric to weigh the test scores of 10th graders by individual states let alone to award prizes and have schools publicizing the results. In what other realm do we lionize those who excel *in practice* thanks to extra/early tutoring?
Agree with this completely. I have 3 kids and one agreed to prep for the SAT before junior year. She has always been more amenable to parental suggestions. Mom: "hey you should go through these books and do the problems for an hour a day this summer." Her "ok, sure!". She rocked the PSAT and is a NMSF. The other wouldn't prep or engage with anything college related until much later in junior year. They did not do as well on the PSAT as they took it cold. However, eventually they too studied and all 3 of my kids ended up with the same SAT scores (1530+).
Anonymous
09/13/2025 10:47
Subject: Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
This isn’t to diss kids with high scores on the PSAT. They are certainly smart! But they aren’t smarter/better prepared for college than kids with middling scores on the PSAT who go on later to attain a high score on the SAT during their junior year or fall of senior year. NMSF success just means that the students prepped earlier. It’s bizarre that there is even a metric to weigh the test scores of 10th graders by individual states let alone to award prizes and have schools publicizing the results. In what other realm do we lionize those who excel *in practice* thanks to extra/early tutoring?
Anonymous
09/13/2025 10:20
Subject: Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
Exactly. When schools pick and choose from kids with wealthy parents who will hire tutors, private coaches and college admissions consultants for their 8th graders, these numbers are not surprising or particularly impressive. Why aren’t they higher?
Anonymous
09/13/2025 10:14
Subject: Re:Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t private schools want the information on social media so it’s available to prospective families applying this year?
Why?
Maybe some families would infer that the schools with semifinalists have more rigorous curricula?
What makes you think that would be a reasonable inference?
Doesn’t it make sense that these schools are at the top of the list given how rigorous they are?
Sidwell (11)
GDS (7)
STA (6)
NCS (3)
I'm a former NMSF who went to bad public schools and I tend to think the award is not that correlated to school (these kids would have been NMSFs anywhere). The list is interesting bc it indicates where these families like to go, and that probably correlates with rigor.
However Sidwell number is so good I wonder if Sidwell is actually doing something active that helps prepare kids to do their very best on the PSAT.
It’s not the schools, it’s the type of parents (in general) whose kids attend these schools. Most kids might start test prep after they get their PSAT result or after one shot at the SAT. But many kids at the schools at the top of these lists have parents who start them on test prep at the beginning of ninth grade. These are parents who are willing to seek out every small opportunity to have their kids distinguish themselves from the pack.
Anonymous
09/13/2025 10:05
Subject: Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
False. Plenty of huge scholarships for NMSFs and NMFs.Anonymous wrote:This counts for nothing btw
Anonymous
09/13/2025 09:13
Subject: Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
As always, Holton is the winner….
Anonymous
09/13/2025 09:00
Subject: Announcing National Merit Semi-Finalists
Anonymous wrote:Is it true the test was “easier?”
it doesn't matter, because they will just basically take the top 1%.