<p>It's a shame because being familiar with the test will make you score much higher. For the people that just miss the cut for their state it could be the difference of getting only one more question right. For S being NMSF meant the easiest $4k he's ever made (that's how much his college is going to give him besides the regular scholarship money).</p>
<p>Good luck, Yeti! I hope you do it!</p>
<p>My school is RIDICULOUSLY competitive, last year alone we had nine qualifiers (scoring between 215 - 239 on the PSAT) out of roughly 135 kids. It is thus no surprise that roughly 35 kids each year go to Ivies and roughly 80 go to Ivy-calibre schools.</p>
<p>My school gets 1-2 NMSF's every year. Students in my grade will take the PSAT in two days now, so maybe with some luck we'll break the mold. ;)</p>
<p>Hmm, it's odd because ProjectStanford - your school probably produces more ivy-bound students than my school, yet you only had 9 semifinalists. Then again, my school only has about 10 per year out of the class of 500 with 37 semifinalists and 38 the year before.</p>
<p>my school has been really competitive in some years....two years ago there was like 30 commended and semi finalist and like 16 finalists
out of 400 in the class</p>
<p>zfox: Do you have any idea what has made your school so successful?</p>
<p>My school has very, very few. I will most likely be the only NMSF in about five years. Most kids do not feel it necessary to take the test. Out of a class of about 250, only about 40 people took the test, and half of the people who took it signed up for it because our English and Social Studies teacher made them go to the testing office to sign up for it. Also, my school is an inner-city school and most students are not too fond of the SAT.</p>
<p>My child goes to a private school that attracts a very bright crowd, so it is no surprise that we have a lot of commended, SF and Fs. There is no prep course offered, but nearly all the 10th grade does take the PSAT.
Another private school I know of has all 10th graders take the PSAT, and gives a 'unofficial' pre-test for it. They review how each kid does, profiling each question. It's more of a 'mainstream' crowd.
I think having kids take the test in 10th would help - and given that it is pretty cheap , that's very doable.</p>
<p>Oh and there was probably around 30 commended as well.</p>
<p>Emiiliye: Are your practice session part of a class? Are the open to everyone? Are they done in the spring, in the fall before the test or both? Are they part of the regular school day or done before or after school? It sounds like however it is being done it is working!</p>
<p>Around 30% of my grade got semi finalists (not sure about finalists). They were handing the packets out on the stage for the semi finalists, over 150 people had to get one it was really crowded. As for preparation, our school has no special prep for psat's, but i think people take pride in high scores...</p>
<p>That's one percent of all the semifinalists in the U.S. (Thomas Jefferson High School comes to mind).</p>
<p>My school requires 9th-11th graders take the PSAT, and whether or not they want it scored is up to their financial needs. The district also pays for the test for 10th graders, but I'm not sure whether that helps the scores.</p>
<p>Our school gets over 40 semi-finalists and around 70 commended students each year. This year we had 55 semi-finalists. I think it's mostly because there are so many kids who take the time to prep over the summer. 220 or higher is attainable through some practice. You can score 75+ in M and W through meer practice, then u only need high 60's to low 70's in reading. But I think a lot of it is because of the parental pressure at our school as well. We take pride in attaining sem-finalist status and its often a matter of prestige for parents if they have produced a kid who can score high on standardized tests. It kind of sucks for the teachers cuz its more recommendation essays when students apply to be NMSQT Finalists. :)</p>
<p>Thanks 181818!
It helps that our area takes great pride in being tops in NMSF numbers...paper always has a article on release date with names by school. DD's school took out a full page ad in the Sunday paper 2 weeks later with picture and names and included commended students also.. was marketing for their open house being held the following Sunday. Even our grade school publishes names of alums in newsletters and parish bulletins. </p>
<p>All Catholic highschool students here take the PSAT Sophomore AND Junior year during the school day, some get the rest of the day off, some continue the day with a college fair or shortened classes. Seniors usually have the day off or a class assembly and Freshman take the ACT Explore/Plan. There is never an additional cost to take the tests. I would guess most of the public schools here do the same.</p>
<p>Umm...it's hard to know what 'x semi finalists' and 'y finalists' means if we don't know how many students are in the grade.</p>
<p>I agree with what bluebayou has to say. Our school provides nothing but the classrooms to take it in and a chance to take it as a sophomore. </p>
<p>People know about it because the finalists are announced in a school assembly, but that's all. They do actually know the significance of it? That I am not sure. </p>
<p>But many people at my school takes SAT prep classes right after sophomore year so that may be another reason. There's about a dozen every year or so.</p>
<p>Our school's average SAT is well below the national average (about 1300) and judging by the percentile college board gave me from my school, I don't think anyone got above 2000 though many were close. People seem to do way better on the ACTs in comparison.</p>
<p>I'm honestly not sure if anyone got National Merit this year (I go to a very small school with about 60 seniors). I'm in the running for National Achievement but not Merit.</p>
<p>Out of the 440 seniors at my school no one got SF, 3 got commended lol. My school sucks</p>