• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Beauty & Style
    • Hair
    • Nails
    • Skin
  • Love & Relationship
  •   Health  
    • Fitness, Diet, & Weight Loss
    • Well-Being
  • Lifestyle
    • Home & Decor
    • DIY
  • Entertainment
  • Food & Cooking
  • Fashion
Womenio
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Love & Relationship
  • Beauty & Style
  • Lifestyle
  • Health
×
You are here: Home / News / “National Merit Scandal”: Virginia High School Officials Reportedly Decide to Keep PSAT Scores for Themselves to Avoid Hurting the Feelings of Students Below the Top 1% 

“National Merit Scandal”: Virginia High School Officials Reportedly Decide to Keep PSAT Scores for Themselves to Avoid Hurting the Feelings of Students Below the Top 1% 

Last Modified: July 23, 2023 by Sylvia Silverstone | This post may contain affiliate links for products we love and suggest. The views expressed in the article are solely the author's opinions.

  • share 
  • share 
  • save 

Some Virginia schools are allegedly holding back their students' test scores as a means of promoting empathy for those who may not have performed as well. 

In a TikTok video posted by educator Christy Faith, she exposed a "national merit scandal" occurring in several Northern Virginia high schools, causing among both parents and students.

Faith stated in her video that officials at the school in the state had been withholding the PSAT scores of the students.

"So kids who were National Merit semifinalists, we're talking the top 1% in the nation, were never informed," she claimed. 

Reading from The Hill's report, Faith revealed that officials in a Virginia school “intentionally decided” to withhold the test scores for the following reason:

“fear that it might hurt the feelings of students who did not receive the award."

@christy_faith #greenscreen #sat #act #psat #scandal #momsofhighschoolers #highschool #testprep #testpreptips #collegesdmissions #christyfaith ♬ original sound - Christy-Faith

She explained that a number of articles claimed that the decision was made for the sake of promoting “equity,” noting that this problem is getting bigger, as what started off as a single school's practice has now spread to "14 schools" that are holding back PSAT scores from their students.

“Now there’s an investigation for unlawful discrimination because [many] colleges give out full-ride scholarships solely based on national merit," Faith added. 

She points out that some of these kids will never get an opportunity for college scholarships, even though they study hard and earned the honor, all “because they were never informed that they were semifinalists.”

Virginia parents are now protesting the decision to withhold PSAT scores

The issue of the student's scores was reported in January 2023 by ABC News. According to the article, a group of parents with children attending several high schools in Virginia have started protesting the withholding of PSAT scores.

New: Another Loudoun County high school didn't notify students of their national merit recognition in time for college scholarship deadlines, according to an email from LCPS. This brings the total to 4 high schools in Loudoun, 7 in Fairfax & 3 in PWC. https://t.co/cklTieOBse

— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) January 16, 2023

Many parents have accused Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County of withholding National Merit recognition from students to avoid upsetting those who were not recognized.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a nationwide academic competition for high school students, which is administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and is qualified by achieving a high score on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT). 

The reason why withholding the PSAT scores is a problem is that, in the next fall, schools are expected to inform students if they have been recognized as top percentile Not notifying these students will mean many of them may miss out on early-decision college application deadlines or scholarship opportunities. 

In an effort to find a solution, Dr. Reid, the Fairfax County Superintendent, is meeting with parents in person to hear their concerns at Westfield, Langley, and Thomas Jefferson high schools, 

READ NEXT:

  • 25 Popular Things Women Wear That Men Secretly Hate
  • 33 Dirty Company Secrets Revealed By Employees That We Are Not Supposed To Know

Share this post:

Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on X (Twitter)
« Boomer Boss Gives His Hardworking Employee a Bonus of $250, Thinking It Would “Change His Life”
“I Nearly Died to Go on a Date With a Teenager”: Woman Shares Details About Her Worst Date Ever With Someone She Met Online »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tim Toroian

    April 23, 2023 at 8:13 pm

    If the results were withheld, somebody must be imprisoned or have their head broken. It's like the dinks who think keeping score in ball games is detrimental to self-esteem. If the kids who don't qualify don't know where they stand, they need more help than punishing someone else. It was vile action.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Categories

Footer

  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact us
  • About Us
  • Web stories

Womenio.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

Copyright © 2025 · Womenio.com · Log in