I cannot believe you’re typing this with, presumably, a straight face. Pure fantasy mixed with a dash of the most condescending, arrogant crap I’ve ever read.
I never said anything about ALL NMFs. I was commenting on my own. He is brilliant and lazy. It is not condescending or arrogant to state facts. I did not say that only NMFs were smart. Again, only speaking about my own kid and he has been tested many ways and literally is one of the world’s smartest people. Top 0.1%. (not saying he is top 10 or anything) Many NMFs are very hard working and industrious. Some are not. Ask them yourselves and you will likely hear “I just test well”. The only reason that they use the PSAT rather than many of the other available tests is that the PSAT is a one-shot deal. You have to deliver under pressure and get no do-over. It is just one test and is not an absolute measure of intelligence, but it is the best proxy they have at the moment.
Like many so-called arguments on cc, this stems from arguing against a straw man. Just because an otherwise high-achieving kid fails to achieve one thing does not necessarily reflect poorly on them. The point was that OU wants the brightest. I did not say their method always resulted in achieving that goal. Y’all read into it and took at as an assault on yourselves or your kids. The university does not have the time to run an entire battery of tests on the kids to get the absolute smartest into their program.
The point about working hard is that a GPA (nothing to do with NMF) can be achieved with above average intelligence and a bunch of hard work. Not the only way, but GPA does not measure intelligence at all. It measures the ability to get work done. Survey the smartest people (defined by whatever IQ tests you prefer) and you will find a reasonably large sample of them who had good, but not great grades. Turning in assignments or doing what they consider ‘busy work’ does not interest them. (see examples like Einstein) Again, not saying ALL, just saying that you cannot cite GPA as a measure of high intelligence. It is just a measure of ability and willingness to meet or exceed an instructor’s set of objectives.
Just give up, dude. Nobody wants to hear you disparage the intelligence of anyone who didn’t get a 230/240 on a test in junior year of high school. It’s laughable.
LOL…i did not want to start something with my reply. I think we all actually agree that the OU awards to NMF is unique, odd, different, etc. I think it also works well for their school based on the very polite, intelligent, proud students that I met during our campus visit. I don’t think we will ever get close to agreeing on who’s child is smartest or what the best way to measure intelligence is. I am certainly awed by a child who scores a 1560 SAT with no prep or a chemical engineering student with a 3.96GPA. As a former CheEng student, I can tell you my GPA never came close to that!
My kid applied to a lot of colleges and it was enlightening (nice word!) to see how differently he was viewed by them. At OU, he’s golden because NMF. At another school, he was doomed because not in top x% of class (and that was his first choice btw). Some highly regarded schools thought his combination of interests/majors was cool and they rewarded him for it; at another school, that was the kiss of death. The whole process of matching kids to colleges is pretty disfunctional imho, which is why kids apply to so many schools. But it’s like dating - you just have to accept that some will like you more than others, not always for any rational reason, and focus on the ones that appreciate what you have to offer. … My only other comment is that the honors college is a lot of what’s cool about OU, and it is not restricted to NMF.
Every non-NMF OU student knows the NMF at OU are privileged based on one single test. Sadly, some of these “brightest” students are socially akward, take their education at OU for granted (after all it is free to them) or don’t work hard at all. They brag about the stipends/scholarships they got or make statement such as “I am here because it is free”. OTOH, I do hope that the majority of NMF don’t waste their talents, work hard and make positive contributions to the campus.
@sunnydayfun yes…emphasis on some…
but I think you will find that most of the NMFs are very involved in campus life-- leaders in organizations; active in research, arts, and athletics. Because they may come from some distance, they do not go home on the weekend-- they are dedicated to their OU home.
Many NMFs hold jobs on and off campus as the scholarship is not a full ride, and for some they are funding their own education with little or no family assistance.
I recently hosted some OU students in my home (both NMFs and non NMFs) and found them all to be involved students who are proud of their OU community.
My child tutors local high school kids; volunteers at a local state park; conducts cutting edge research, is involved in several campus organizations and holds positions of leadership; and often volunteers as an ambassador for outreach programs in her college. And… she is typical of her peers in the NMF program.
@sunnydayfun I’ve got to believe that the lazy NMF finalist is the exception and not the rule. The NMF students we met during college visits were all impressive. My own D is among the hardest working students you will find at her high school. No matter what criteria is used for selecting scholarship students, there will always be some kids who aren’t successful in college. I’m sure even Harvard and Stanford alumni can tell us about lazy kids who contributed very little to their campus.
At OU, there were several professors who told us how much it helps their programs to have the NMF students. Chemical engineering in particular, the professor said that his class has about 1 in 7 students as NMF and that the pace of learning for the entire class is faster.
The socially awkward comment may be true, but not sure what that really means or if it’s suppose to be a negative. If my D is socially awkward because she’s not getting drunk or stoned each weekend, then maybe I’m ok with that. If a kid doesn’t want to join the Greek life, but joins the Manga/Anime club does that mean their socially awkward. I think most college kids will find their clique. That some groups are not as high on the social ladder will mean very little in the big picture. I’ll learn more as my D starts college at OU this fall.