Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 20:55     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:No one gives a damn!


Said the poster reading and replying to the thread.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 20:33     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
No one gives a damn!
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 20:15     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:I hope someone is reporting the errors to FCPS. That’s awful.


I did yesterday, but no idea if anyone checks the feedback mailbox...
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 19:48     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Commended is meaningless.


As for the admin not telling students and the news reports up in arms about it, I had to explain to DH how commended means they are NOT a national merit finalist. It is like saying, congrats! You came really close! I still don't understand why this is a thing at all anywhere.


Are you and your DH both that stupid? It’s like saying someone got a silver medal rather than a gold one. It’s not a participation trophy because it’s reserved to kids still in the top 2-3%.


It's kind of like 4th place. The levels go from Commended to Semi-finalist to Finalist, and lastly, the actual National Merit Scholarship winners.


Technically speaking, there's not really much difference between the scholarship winners and the finalists. Corps give them out to students in an area or are tenuously related, colleges will give them to any finalist who attends. Using 2021 data because I'm lazy, the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!) has 281 National Merit Scholars, easily dwarfing Harvard's 179 that year. But that's because Alabama gives a scholarship to every National Merit Finalist who attends, automatically converting them to National Merit Scholars; Harvard's number of NMFs is unpublished but it's probably around 540+.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 19:34     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
I hope someone is reporting the errors to FCPS. That’s awful.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 19:25     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:South Lakes had several commenddd students.


Meant to add: they had an award ceremony for them. There were a bunch.


Given the errors associated with the boundary review, it’s no surprise FCPS misreported. It seems highly unlikely that all the commended students at South Lakes just opted out of public recognition.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 19:14     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:South Lakes had several commenddd students.


Meant to add: they had an award ceremony for them. There were a bunch.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 19:11     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
South Lakes had several commenddd students.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 11:48     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:FCPS has posted about the 770 students named National Merit Commended Students. They've started publicizing this more since the incident where school administrators at TJ and Langley weren't bothering to tell students they were commended students. https://www.fcps.edu/news/770-fcps-students-named-national-merit-commended-scholars

TJHSST 196
McLean 83
Langley 82
Chantilly 65
Oakton 61
Madison 47
Lake Braddock 37
Centreville 30
Marshall 29
Robinson 29
West Springfield 27
Westfield 21
Fairfax 14
Edison 12
Falls Church 12
Hayfield 7
Woodson 7
Herndon 5
Annandale 3
Justice 2
West Potomac 1
Lewis 0
Mount Vernon 0
South County 0
South Lakes 0



Close to half of the 770 are from just 3 high schools.


WOWOW, were YOU a National Merit Scholar with that kind of amazing analysis??!?
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 11:31     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:FCPS has posted about the 770 students named National Merit Commended Students. They've started publicizing this more since the incident where school administrators at TJ and Langley weren't bothering to tell students they were commended students. https://www.fcps.edu/news/770-fcps-students-named-national-merit-commended-scholars

TJHSST 196
McLean 83
Langley 82
Chantilly 65
Oakton 61
Madison 47
Lake Braddock 37
Centreville 30
Marshall 29
Robinson 29
West Springfield 27
Westfield 21
Fairfax 14
Edison 12
Falls Church 12
Hayfield 7
Woodson 7
Herndon 5
Annandale 3
Justice 2
West Potomac 1
Lewis 0
Mount Vernon 0
South County 0
South Lakes 0



Close to half of the 770 are from just 3 high schools.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 11:01     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:Given FCPS’s ongoing decline and commitment to mediocrity recognizing the local kids who still are in the top 3% is the least we should do.



Reid and the hyper-progressive school board are running FCPS into the ground. Sad to see the decline of the once-great FCPS.
Sent from my iPhone
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2026 15:11     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:Note: Students who have a signed opt-out form on file are not listed.


Very few would opt out of being recognized for academic achievement. It’s not like a Family Life presentation in elementary school.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2026 14:18     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The NMSQT is a flawed system in that the index used to score it is calculated by doubling the Reading score and adding it to the Math score and dividing by 10 which disproportionately favors students who are stronger in their verbal skills than their math skills. It is also taken at the beginning of their junior year but not awarded until the beginning of senior year - a full year later.

Being a National Merit Finalist or Semifinalist doesn't even accurately reflect which students have achieved the greatest overall success on the SAT.

DS did not achieve even Commended status on the NMSQT, but went on to get the highest SAT score in his graduating class including a perfect score on the Math section. It's definitely a nice recognition for the students who score high on the PSAT (especially in Reading) but really is not necessarily indicative of those who are the highest achieving in the SATs in terms of the college admissions process.


Nice anecdote. Scary you'd pretend to know the SAT scores of all the kids in his graduating class.

Just because your DS didn't get this particular award doesn't mean it's not valid for others.


You don't think the high stat kids at every school compare SAT scores like the kids in the weight room compare how much they can bench press? All the kids in my daughter's school know each others SAT scores. It's also info that is available in the Scattergrams in Naviance.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2026 13:17     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Note: Students who have a signed opt-out form on file are not listed.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2026 12:56     Subject: FCPS National Merit Commended Students by High School
Anonymous wrote:Yes — it is absolutely possible to achieve the same results with free SAT resources as with a paid prep class. Many students score 1500–1600 using only free tools.
The difference is not quality of material — it’s structure, discipline, and feedback.


Which is exactly what the paid prep classes provide…