<p>Please post numbers of NMSF at you high school for the class of 2010. Which school has the most counts?</p>
<p>32 semifinalists.</p>
<p>There are no semifinalists at my HS for class of 2010. I was 2009’s champion, bringing NMSF glory to a school that hadn’t had a SF in about 10 years.</p>
<p>HAHAHHA 0. And we go to a private school. ■■■? Yeah.</p>
<p>Our school typically has 5-10% of the class.</p>
<p>There are only like usually 1 or 2 at our school. up to 5 at the most.</p>
<p>149 NMSF – but it is a magnet school</p>
<p>^ Wow - where is the school?</p>
<p>I think it’s obvious that in addition to the expected differences owing to student demographics and school resources, these figures probably also reflect at both the micro (school) and macro (community and state) levels the kind of emphasis put on the test. My son’s high school, for example, is a strong but diverse public school in a close-in suburb. Good teachers, strong programs. But out of a class of a little under 300 it had 4 NMSFs this year, and that’s actually a high number, year on year. But the school does no formal preparation for the test that I’m aware of, and of the few students who might have taken a standardized college test before they took the PSAT, in this state most would take the ACT, which is rather different in format.</p>
<p>Moreover, I was completely surprised to learn from this site that kids could take the PSAT as sophomores, and that in fact this is de rigeur at many schools. Surely this is a huge advantage to the kids with that opportunity.</p>
<p>Of course, I was surprised to learn from this site that there is a whole industry developed around tutoring kids for standardized tests. When I was in high school we were just told when the test was and took it, with no preparation whatsoever. It was called an aptitude test, and I honestly think in those long ago times many of us felt it was just useful to see where we stood, and weren’t nearly as obsessed about what schools our test scores would take us to. It was more like the scores would guide us to the right schools for our level of ability – our “aptitude.” And I don’t recall anybody taking the SAT more than once. Why would you?</p>
<p>When our own kids came of age, it never occurred to us to do more than buy one of those ubiquitous prep books at the bookstore, hand it to the kid and encourage him to open it – generally, that happened the evening before the test.</p>
<p>Times have changed, I guess.</p>
<p>MilwDad: You are right. The issue here is like everything else, things have become very competitive. People are looking for every little bit that will give them/their children an edge which includes NMF. Schools also realize they are in a competitive game, so they need bragging rights. A school that I pass by had a banner advertising the number of NMF’s the school had. It was an underperforming school and they were trying to show that they had made progress. Hence it is not “take it cold aptitude test” but something that a lot of people agonize about.</p>
<p>Zero. None within 60 miles of me, in fact. Funny how 80% of the Minnesota ones are from major metro areas :(</p>
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<p>I don’t think this is true, but I could be wrong. I thought the sophomore PSAT phenomenon is still rare percentage wise. Can’t imagine any public school encourages its sophomore class to take PSAT en masse. Do you have an example?</p>
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<p>Vast majority of the families are still just buying prep books. They may encourage their kids to read it a few days earlier than the evening before the test ;).</p>
<p>Yes, there are more kids today who go through structured, high priced prep classes, but numerous studies have shown that the average improvement is marginal. Still, a “borderline” unprep’d kid could be squeezed out of the NMSF game by another prep’d kid who just marginally improved over the cutoff.</p>
<p>30 NMSF in a class of 104. Independent school in a suburb of a medium-sized, Midwestern city.</p>
<p>I would love to see the list from Illinois but I can’t find it anywhere.</p>
<p>In my S’s school, (public school), students are encouraged to take the test in their sophomore year, though there is no pressure or record kept if students do not take it. In the parent night, the PSAT dates are mentioned and suggestion that parents should encourage their children to take the test even in the sophomore year.</p>
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<p>The high school my son attended not only encourages it, but pays for the test for sophomores and juniors. It’s a large, comprehensive high school which has a science and tech magnet in it. There were 10 students in public schools who were named NMSFs, all from that one school. (My son is one of the 10, though he is no longer at that school.)</p>
<p>There were two homeschooled students in the district who also made NMSF. </p>
<p>This is in stark contrast to the neighboring district, which has 175 NMSFs.</p>
<p>Yeah our school pays for all sophomores and juniors to take the PSAT if they want. Funny how we still have no NMSFs… even though almost everyone takes it just for an excuse to miss half of the day in classes</p>
<p>this year is the first year they have now required all juniors and sophomores to take the PSAT. this will also be the first year they take the PSAT on a wednesday so i wonder how that will affect the scores. </p>
<p>alas, this year i am the only NMSF. however, last year we had 6 so i don’t know what happened…</p>
<p>My school in Alabama had 11 semifinalists out of a class of 89.
We are a public magnet school and we take the PSAT freshman-junior year.</p>
<p>45 out of a class of 180. Selective public, requires PSAT sophomore and junior years.</p>