<p>mine isn’t too bad… as far as I know my school has never had a semi-finalist before me, so they’re pretty excited. I got on the local news and stuff. haha no incentives though, and I’m already valedictorian and getting a lot of schedule preference for that, not much that could be changed there.
I hear a lot that NMSF isn’t a big deal… well to me it is. I took a test and scored in the top 16,000 of 3,500,000. And I don’t come from a prestigious private school that made a big deal of the test or prepared me for it. About 13 people in my school took the test; I had to sign myself up and study for it myself. So yeah, to me it is a big deal. It quantifies the work I’ve done in the past 4 years at this rural public school that no one’s heard of, that does OK in sports and has an OK graduation rate and still uses chalkboards in most of the rooms. It validates my effort; I don’t know if those people know how it feels to be a National Merit Semifinalist at a school where a good number of my (not below-average intelligence) classmates scored sub-15 on the ACT junior year. I got here myself, nobody gave this to me, and I’m proud of it, haha it’s a big deal to me</p>
<p>At first, I thought they wouldn’t do anything. But I got a bunch of balloons in class, and there is some sort of “National Merit Recognition” on Friday morning.</p>
<p>D was NMSF last year, along with one other student. They were paraded out on the football field one halftime. There were some other athletic recognitions. I saw a bunch of roses and thought “how cool”…but the flowers were given to the girls tennis team sharing the field. Okay…so I listened to my kid’s name mispronounced from the sound system (yes, we have an unusual surname, but she was in this small 100 member class from first grade AND the announcer was her math teacher…). </p>
<p>Move forward to today. I picked up the h.s. yearbook (our school delivers the previous year’s book the next fall…something I’m not thrilled with, but apparently that’s the new way of doing things…but how I loved getting mine in the spring and having time to have friends sign it…) One of the reasons they move the yearbooks to the next year is to have end of year stuff, and it was sweet to see prom pics and some graduation shots. I saw a small notice (on the page with “congrats, [insert sports team here] on your season” mentioning our 3 commendees (as well they should be recognized). So I paged on, looking for notice, maybe a reprint of the photo and article that our local community paper did (that was nice) regarding the 2 NM Scholars. Nope. Nowhere in the yearbook, held until after last year’s seniors are long gone, is there any mention that d and friend are indeed both NM Scholars. Oh, well…she is done with high school, happily ensconsed in college, enjoying her NMS award…</p>
<p>There are 16 of us at my school and they do nothing to honor us.</p>
<p>Not even a mention in the newsletter or anything. </p>
<p>But, whatever.</p>
<p>Sorry to all who don’t get the recognition I think they deserve! Our breakfast was this morning. Wow, it was catered and fancy. The District and School administration were all there. Our district is small, so they are really excited to have 3 Semi-finalists and 4 commended. It’s the most we have had in a very long time, so I guess that’s why they are going all out. I guess the schools who always have a crowd of NMSF’s kind of take it for granted…</p>
<p>Most of my school does not even know what a national merit scholar is
But congrats to all :)</p>
<p>Nvm Our school had an assembly and called them up</p>
<p>I’m the only NMSF at my school–there’s one commended otherwise–and all I got was a call down to the counselor’s office, where my counselor had a chat with me about college choices and gave me the letter.</p>
<p>Last year they didn’t even tell us about National Merit, so only about twenty of my class took the PSAT (I hadn’t even heard of National Merit until I got a letter of recognition!). Amusingly enough, this time, they’re all up in arms advocating that all juniors take the PSAT to qualify for National Merit, offering study guides and tutoring, etc. I guess they figured that they’d best start actually telling people about opportunities now?</p>
<p>It’s not a big deal. Academic achievements doesn’t make anyone royal status.</p>
<p>At my school they just listed them and we’re on our daily school news</p>
<p>Our school puts the kids in the newsletter and there was some mention in the local paper, but I’m not sure it came from the school or from the NM corporation. Nobody appears to care anymore, and it’s a shame because no matter what anyone says, it is still quite an accomplishment. </p>
<p>I think the lack of recognition is part of the overall backlash against standardized testing.
There was yet another article in the paper recently which totally trashed the NM program in general. Another “standardized tests don’t mean anything” article. We all know the pro and con arguments, but all I can say is at the very least, NM increases the choices of colleges for many “middle class” kids who do not have enough money (and don’t want to borrow over 100K) to attend some schools which may have been out of the question financially. My kid is graduating from college debt free thanks to the NM program. I am grateful and supportive of any program that allows a kid to do that.</p>
<p>We have a national merit breakfast at our school, where we get to bring one of our favorite teachers to get recognized in front of many other teachers. We also get recognized at one of our assemblies, and at a football game! Our name, and picture is also posted in the “wall of fame”. most teachers know about it, and congratulate us on our achievements.</p>
<p>^^^ nice! I got a breakfast but that was all. Nothing on the morning news or website. I was the only semifinalist and there were about 5 commended.</p>
<p>Yeah I guess what our school gives us is really nice compared to other posts. but thats awesome! You should feel proud of your achievement!</p>
<p>My school called down the three of us into the counselor’s office where a bunch of administrators first told us we were SF and offered us donuts. There was a picture on the school website for a while and in the school newsletter (which got a fair amount of attention because it was the first article). My English teacher also posted our names on the board. Most of my friends found out about it without me telling them, so I guess my school did a pretty good job of getting the word out.</p>
<p>D’s school called them down to the office to get their initial paperwork and congratulate them when they first found out last fall. They were listed in the local newspaper and on the school website. They get their picture taken for the yearbook. But, the best recognition was at the first school board meeting this year, they invited all of the students to attend. They were called up individually and shook hands with each board member and then the audience applauded them. My D did not really want to go to this, but I could tell that she was really pleased to be recognized. The meeting was very well attended by all of the principals and some teachers from each school so it was nice for her to see her previous teachers and have them congratulate her on her achievement. I was surprised that the majority of the kids who were recognized did attend the meeting.</p>
<p>I find it humorous that kids keep saying it’s “no big deal” - to be in the top 1% (or better in many cases) in the nation for anything is a huge deal. And I do think it is a very common practice for most schools to shy away from recognizing students for academic achievement, as if to spare those who don’t excel academically. Yet, we are constantly hearing about athletic success, no ones seems worried about offending the “unathletic”. My D excels in both, so I’m not making a judgement on one over the other, just an observation…</p>
<p>Sorry, guys, but being a National Merit Semifinalist or Finalist isn’t a big deal. That means you’re in, what, the top 15,000 or 16,000 juniors (or, I guess at that point, seniors) who took the test in the country? Big whoop. In any event, being a Semifinalist in a lot of cases only means that you were lucky to live in a low-scoring state (Wyoming and Arkansas, I’m looking at you). What I’m getting at is that one should only be proud of his or her PSAT score if it would qualify in any state. </p>
<p>As an aside about NMSF/NMF recognition, my school doesn’t do a ton; I think their names are in the program at commencement, and they have a picture on the wall of the foyer of the school next to the NHS people. And, you know what? That’s plenty. I don’t need to rub every last one of my accomplishments, however minor, in the student body’s face.</p>
<p>hkobb7…Wow, arrogant and clueless at the same time. What a rare combination!! Sorry…but it IS a HUGE deal to many students around the country. For many of them, NMF status (and the scholarships that brings) allows the student to attend any of a number of great schools without putting a financial burden on themselves or their family. You bet your butt that’s a HUGE deal to many kids!!</p>
<p>Exactly who are you to belittle anyone else’s academic accomplishments? If you don’t feel like NMSF/NMF status matters in your world…that’s just fine. But unless you want to congratulate the students at your school (or any other) on their accomplishments…feel free to keep your opinions to yourself. Good Luck to you wherever you choose to attend. I hope they’re worthy of your attendance.</p>
<p>Of course it’s a huge deal! Maybe it’s because your school doesn’t “do a ton” that you feel that way. Maybe they’re too busy covering the football team to put the emphasis where it belongs.
If schools “rub it in your face” when it comes to awards it’s usually been toward sports recognition. I’ve never seen a “letter jacket” for academics…</p>
<p>Yeah, you’re right. I feel so little of myself now. Thanks for showing me what’s really up.</p>