2016 National Merit Semi-Finalists (Dallas, Plano, Flower Mound: credit, school rankings, universities)

[pinemon]

Originally Posted by RonnieinDallas

Only one from all of the public Arlington High schools? There's a fairly sizable Asian Community still living in Lamar High school area but the school seems to be sinking lower and lower. Back in the late 90s when my cousins went to Lamar it made US news best schools list, now it's in a free fall to the bottom. It will happen to more places though.

Don't know what the mix was back in the late 90s, but it's majority-Hispanic & Black now:

Lamar High School students
Hispanic - 37%
Black - 31%
White - 26%
Asian or Pacific Islander - 4%

[coppellmama]

Coppell High School has 36 NMSFs. Senior class size (as per the school profile available online) is 768. That works out to 4.68% of the class as NMSFs. Good job Coppell. Congratulations to all the semi-finalists.

[Big G]

That's incredible, and has to be a new record for the school. Congratulations Coppell!

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One more data point - Allen has 12 NMSFs this year. UIL numbers imply a senior class of just under 1500, for a %age of 0.8%.

[Peter5457]

Originally Posted by Big G

That's incredible, and has to be a new record for the school. Congratulations Coppell!

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One more data point - Allen has 12 NMSFs this year. UIL numbers imply a senior class of just under 1500, for a %age of 0.8%.

Allen having a low % of national merits doesnt mean anything negative. Not everyone can succeed at being a book nerd. At least they got 12, that is great. how many other schools got that many? At least there are students and families that do take their education seriously there too. and they are succeeding. great job for them.

[hsw]

Next question is what colleges/majors these NMSF's attain

And more importantly, what are incomes, say, 5yrs post-college

Examine any avail data (largely anecdotal as any hard data is nonexistent except at IRS).....would be amused by dismal incomes of recent Stanf/Harv grads from bottom 99% of class, let alone those of less prestigious colleges and/or those where pa ain't affluent/connected enough to secure a lucrative job for the kid w/a dubious major/GPA/skills despite elite diploma

Brands/credentials often only go so far...truth is in ability to monetize one's skills in real-world mkts vs employers bidding amongst various choices.....thus pay/net worth at various stages post-grad are closer to truth (w/often little cause-effect vs credentials as many of highest achievers are self-taught anyway)

[DallasG]

Originally Posted by Peter5457

Allen having a low % of national merits doesnt mean anything negative. Not everyone can succeed at being a book nerd. At least they got 12, that is great. how many other schools got that many? At least there are students and families that do take their education seriously there too. and they are succeeding. great job for them.

NMSF has its importance, whether we agree with it or not. Most districts with Allen's demographics are doing very well in NMSF department. What's Allen's excuse?

[pinemon]

Originally Posted by hsw

And more importantly, what are incomes, say, 5yrs post-college

Well, on average, higher IQs do generate higher incomes:

there is one thing that is undeniably highly correlated with achievement on the PSAT and SAT—income. The New York Times gives a great summary of the link between income and SAT scores, and it is most clearly summarized by this chart from, taken from the linked post.

[gsoy]

Any info on Plano or Dallas Privates?

[coppellmama]

Originally Posted by hsw

Next question is what colleges/majors these NMSF's attain

And more importantly, what are incomes, say, 5yrs post-college

Examine any avail data (largely anecdotal as any hard data is nonexistent except at IRS).....would be amused by dismal incomes of recent Stanf/Harv grads from bottom 99% of class, let alone those of less prestigious colleges and/or those where pa ain't affluent/connected enough to secure a lucrative job for the kid w/a dubious major/GPA/skills despite elite diploma

Brands/credentials often only go so far...truth is in ability to monetize one's skills in real-world mkts vs employers bidding amongst various choices.....thus pay/net worth at various stages post-grad are closer to truth (w/often little cause-effect vs credentials as many of highest achievers are self-taught anyway)

Let's not take away from the accomplishments of these students. It takes hard work and dedication to get qualifying scores. What happens in the future will depend on a lot of factors, but right now, these kids are STARS and need to be celebrated for their success

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by coppellmama

Let's not take away from the accomplishments of these students. It takes hard work and dedication to get qualifying scores. What happens in the future will depend on a lot of factors, but right now, these kids are STARS and need to be celebrated for their success

Don't let him bug you......hsw has a singularly pessimistic view of education.

I agree with you, as a society we should celebrate academic high achievers more than we do.