<p>“I wonder what proportion of the Black high scorers on the the SAT are NOT National Achievement Scholars – and what the reasons for that might be?”</p>
<p>My 2 sons’ cr, m on the SATs were a 1410 and 1540. Both were NM Commended, too, but neither became a National Achievement Scholar, just semifinalist. That was because their unweighted gpas were about 2.7, 2.9. The organization actually sent them letters letting them know why they didn’t make finalist.</p>
<p>They were both classic underachievers who never were motivated by grades or parents’ various ways of urging them to achieve up to their potential. They’d grown up knowing how to be a National Achievement scholars because their dad, who was first gen h.s. grad, was one and… sigh… I had been just a semifinalist due probably to not having the gpa that was needed. </p>
<p>I know other students who didn’t make make the cut despite having very high SATs. They also were academic underperformers.</p>
<p>I’m know that some black high scorers on the SAT don’t become National Achievement scholars because their schools didn’t encourage them to take the PSAT their junior year. I met a black student who was working as a waitress and had large loans in order to attend U Va. Based on a variety of things about her, I tagged her for an Achievement Scholar, but it ended up that she wasn’t. Her SAT scores were very high, well above the 1200 (cr, m) that my sleuthing indicates is the cutoff for the program. Ends up she had done extremely well on the PSAT as a soph, so hadn’t bothered to take it as a junior because she correctly figured she didn’t need more practice. She had no idea that the junior year PSAT was the gateway to scholarships and many other opportunities. Parents were college professors, who clearly also most not have known.</p>
<p>“Well my D scored a bit better on SAT then PSAT, thus “commended” but not a scholar. In her case, don’t know if she’d be a “high scorer” by the OP’s definition in 05.”</p>
<p>I’m the OP, and, yes, any student of any race whose NM Commended is a high scorer though you would never know that by the comments commended students make about themselves on CC.</p>