National Merit Semifinalists 2018 (Sherman, Happy: horse, recruit, roach)

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by MurphyPl1

Or men. 100% track record.

You just cracked the code. Genius!

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

You just cracked the code. Genius!

I missed my calling......I'm a guy and left handed. Darn it all!

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by EDS_

I missed my calling......I'm a guy and left handed. Darn it all!

Protestant too? We've had only one Catholic president so far!

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Protestant too? We've had only one Catholic president so far!

I'm more or less an atheist - that would present a stumbling block.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by EDS_

I'm more or less an atheist - that would present a stumbling block.

Not optimistic we'll see a non-Christian president in my lifetime, though the one that would surprise me least is a Mormon president.

[NP78]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Not optimistic we'll see a non-Christian president in my lifetime, though the one that would surprise me least is a Mormon president.

Yeah, that almost happened already.


I think we have probably already had (have?) a non-Christian president, it's just that it is not politically beneficial to identify as such as of yet.

[kyam11]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Responding to several points you've made across this thread.......

1. PSAT and SAT prep have nearly 100% overlap ergo studying for one is essentially studying for the other.

2. Unless you are prepared to go to war with SLC High School your kid will take the PSAT and he will prep for it to some degree. Any kid bright enough to take the SAT in 7th will be queued up by the school to take the PSAT later.

3. Among the top quintile of academic performers taking the SAT early is not unusual. Both my kids did. Roughly a 1/3 of my nieces and nephews did as well.

4. Noting #3 don't gloat until you know your kid's results. A good number of young kids get smashed by the SAT because they are not used to performing under time pressure. Gloat if your kid makes maybe an 1100 or better or is asked to take an SAT subject test due to his SAT score.

5. Possibly I'm misunderstanding your point about athletics and college admissions. With that stipulation, across the NCAA far more athletes are full academic qualifiers than not - many schools offer no academic breaks for athletes at all and just the Ives either. Everyone has to apply and be accepted and athletes have to complete the NCAA Clearinghouse (it's called something else now) resume/bio/application/qualifier status page which is a major pain.

Trust me we've through all of this, the academic and the athletic, twice.

Agree with on #1 however that preparation likely does not occur until after the PSAT rather than before. For example my kids will spend no time preparing for the PSAT, but will spend massive amounts of time preparing for the SAT. My feeling is they will do much better on the SAT than on the PSAT because we will know (if any) where the deficiencies are.

For sure on #2 but my wife prepping him (hammering him) is far more effective than a district as a whole trying to prepare huge numbers of kids, thus I expect better results on the SAT than on the PSAT

Re #3 Top quintile by definition is rare.

Re #4 No gloating merely pointing it out. Happy for him, but this score means very little unless he can monetize what he knows later.

Regarding #5 the floor is adjusted to much lower amounts for athletes (even the Ivies). For example if I said a kid has a GPA of 3.3 and an SAT score of 1300 and wants to go to Yale you would tell me it isn't good enough. If you are an athlete is is more than good enough and the approval/acceptance experience is much faster and easier. For example using myself as an example as I went to to a top 20 school and had multiple opportunities (some Ivies) because of sports and did not have to do any essays, filled out minimal paperwork, got accepted within days, and was given preferential choices of living situations. My scores were below many who were turned away as well. You want to go to Yale - Either get a 4.0+ and a 1500+ on your SAT or learn to throw an incredible fastball and curveball and score 1250+ and get a 3.2+.

[UnfairPark]

You are absolutely right about athletes. If applicant is an athlete, legacy, celebrity, AA/Hispanic/Native or donor then odds are incredibly high. Here is an interesting analysis.

http://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/...Dec%202004.pdf

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Not optimistic we'll see a non-Christian president in my lifetime, though the one that would surprise me least is a Mormon president.

I'm guessing you knew this but I didn't know until a few weeks ago that TX Speaker of the House Joe Straus is Jewish?

He's young enough to possibly be governor down the road. Heck I'd vote for him right now.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

You are absolutely right about athletes. If applicant is an athlete, legacy, celebrity, AA/Hispanic/Native or donor then odds are incredibly high. Here is an interesting analysis.

http://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/...Dec%202004.pdf

Did you even read that?