<p>I have a 1570 on the SATs and didn't cut it. There must be something in the water in Massachusetts. Well, besides the stuff from that Civil Action movie.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear, la montagne. If you had lived in Florida 143 would have made it. It's a one question difference in the whole ACT, but at this level it's not how many you get right, but how few you miss. We thank the GC that insisted S take the ACT even though he had a 2360 (1560 M+CR) SAT in the Fall of jr. year and didn't want to hear another word about standardized tests.</p>
<p>So, if they pick one boy and one girl from each state as finalists, aren't I really only competing against the 19 or so other females from my state?</p>
<p>That sounds a lot better to me. Thinking of 2000 applicants and only picking 141 scared me. It sounds a lot better to say I'm going against 19 other girls from NM, if they even all apply. I can handle that.</p>
<p>hahaha. i love SC. 1570 and i got it :)</p>
<p>I told you MA needs a 1600.</p>
<p>There are already over 70 kids for MA because so many got 1600s</p>
<p>They're adding over 300 kids who had a 36 on the ACT (141 and up). Check the web site and your mail box on Friday.</p>
<p>Florida added like 20 to the list and there were only 7 36s in the state to begin with. Something else is going on. May have something to do with the SAT.</p>
<p>Okay, question - you know that huge evaluation that your principal/teacher/counselor is supposed to do?</p>
<p>If I'm applying online, do they have places online where they can fill out the evaluation? Or is it supposed to be printed and mailed? It's my college counselor's first year!</p>
<p>hmm... it doesnt add up... if its 2 from each state + 20 arts, that means 120, not 141... who r the othr ones?</p>
<p>As for Presidential Scholar, it definitely has to do about SAT/ACT scores. Everyone I know who was nominated for seminfinalist got a 1600 on the SAT. Writing doesn't count.
A person with 1600 (2340) got it but another person with 1590 (2390) didn't.</p>
<p>Highlow: Puerto Rico, DC, maybe Guam. Also, there are 15 at large (some states end up with 3).</p>
<p>Would someone be kind enough to post this year's essay questions to help out the 300+ add-ons who haven't yet received their packet of materials and who are somewhat behind the eightball. :) Thanks.</p>
<p>Yaaay more kids *****ing about test scores as a selection criteria. That's almost as stupid as the suggestion that the valedictorian is picked by GPA, extracurriculars, and 'leadership'. Maybe they should write an essay too? :)</p>
<p>yeah, some things just work one way. There are numerous other scholarships, awards, and honors that don't JUST take SATs (colleges, for example).</p>
<p>How long are these essays supposed to be? I was thinking around 600ish for the main one, 250-300ish for the others.....sound about right?</p>
<p>A boy and girl are chosen from each of the 50 States, DC, PR, and "citizens overseas." Back in the day (when I was a PS), there were quite a lot of American citizens in HS overseas--typically the children of military personnel stationed in Europe, Japan, etc. With the end of the Cold War, that number has dwindled, and nowadays there are indeed generally multiple candidates from Guam, because the island is a US territory and its ~200k inhabitants are US citizens.</p>
<p>In addition to the 106 PrezSchols from the categories above, there are an additional 15 "at large," usually chosen from high-population States. No State will have more than three total. Exception: the additional 20 PS-in-the-arts folks--they were added after my time--who bring the total to 141.</p>
<p>When I was chosen, there was no application. There was a board that looked at a few candidates in each State. I <em>believe</em> the first cut was from looking at top NMSQT scores (it used to be a separate test); then ACT/SAT scores would be used to verify the NMSQT; then the committee would look at things like class rank, activities, and so forth for ~three boys and three girls, and pick one of each. They'd check with the high school, to make sure the kid was a good citizen; then send a telegram (well, I got one) to the "winners."</p>
<p>Because there was no application process or specific method to establish "candidates," the selection committee was able to apply whatever criteria it wished. In particular I remember being struck, at the time, with the fact that almost all the States with three PS's had one black kid among them; and almost all the States with two had no black kid. (Having come from a working-class, racially-integrated background and a "majority-minority" HS, where people of color were the social/academic/athletic/political leaders, this was literally my first acquaintance with the political cynicism that later became enshrined as racial AA.)</p>
<p>Now that there's an application process, and no NMSQT anymore, and hundreds of kids get 1600 M+V on the SAT (following the 1995 recentering of scores), I can understand setting the top 20+ scores as the first step in a candidacy. Otherwise, hundreds of thousands of kids would apply, picking winners would be an <em>enormous</em> task, and the whole process would, I'm sure, become much more political. However, using top scores as the inital criterion pretty much insures that there will be very few black/hispanic/Amerindian applicants, so I'd imagine almost all of the winners are white and/or Asian. (Do the twenty "arts" Scholars make up for the racial deficiency? I really know nothing about that part of the process.)</p>
<p>I know how teachable the SAT is (I was an editor for Kaplan), so I can share other posters' discomfort with the first cut's being determined by a test score. However, with twenty or more students eligible to apply for each of the final spots, I'm sure the committee has plenty of well-rounded kids to choose from, and that those who are actually selected are much more than a test score.</p>
<p>To those who wonder whether they should inform colleges about their candidacies: The schools you're applying to already know your test scores, so step one (which is solely based on those) probably won't affect your admission chances much. Step two (semifinalist status) might be somewhat helpful, so if you've been waitlisted you could let those schools know about that. And I've been told that actually being selected as a PS can have a major impact--e.g. a guy's rejection from Yale was reversed when Y learned that he'd made the final cut.</p>
<p>PS to anyone actually applying (based on previous posts): Remember that "criteria" is a plural noun (singular is "criterion"). And best of luck!</p>
<p>Things have changed. Each of the four candidates from our county belong to a different ethnic group.</p>
<p>Telling the colleges you applied to might help to secure merit aid if accepted.</p>
<p>Thanks, J'adoube. I'm pleased to hear about the variety of high scorers in your county, and I think your point about merit aid is a sound one.</p>