CRITERIA USED TO DETERMINE THE 2008
NATIONAL FINALISTS
For the
benefit of parents and contestants alike, here’s a clarification on the
National Finalists selection process:
Similar to last year, this year we
have tried to have a uniform cutoff score. However, where necessary we
have lowered the cutoffs to invite contestants from lower grades as well. While we would like to encourage younger
contestants to participate, we will not be giving grade-based trophies for each
contest. We will giving out “top 10” rank winners for each contest at this
year’s Finals.
1. This
year, as in other years, we set a uniform cutoff score for each contest
(irrespective of grade) based on a survey of scores from all centers. In addition,
we have lowered the cutoff for lower grades in some situations to encourage younger contestants. See the table
below.
2. There
will be a national rank 1-3 for all the contests listed below. In addition, for
most contests (except SVB, SEW and PS) we will give out rank 4-10 trophies and
certificates.
3. To avoid
situations where a lower grade kid gets invited (by virtue of a lower cutoff)
but a rank 1 (of higher grade) of that center may not be invited, we looked at
the scores of all rank 1s. Any rank 1 who got equal or higher score than the
lowest cutoff for that contest was also invited.
4. In
addition we have invited rank 1s (from a few new centers that have gotten off
the ground this year) who have not met the range of cutoff scores.
5. Since ranks are not comparable
across chapters, we use scores for determining the invitees as shown in the
table below. As a result, some lower ranks may get invited in some
chapters because they meet the cutoff scores, while similar or even higher
ranks may not get invited in some other chapters because they do not meet the
cutoffs. The only exceptions are rule #3 and 4 where rank 1 is used to
determine extra invitees.
6. In MB3,
there was some variation between question papers this year. Therefore a normalization was undertaken and a correction factor was
added to contestants who seemed to have encountered more difficult question
papers. Thereafter we applied the cutoff score to choose finalists.
7. For
Senior Essay writing (SEW), all participants will be invited to Finals – in
addition others who fall in the grade range (Grade 9-12) for SEW can also apply. However,
registration for this contest is limited to a total of 30 contestants.
8. There
will be a National Final for Senior Public Speaking. All regional participants
will be invited to Finals. In addition others who fall in the grade range (Grade 9-12) for SPS can
also apply. However, the registration for this contest is limited to a total of
30 contestants.
9. As in previous years, we will have Brain Bee
(Grade 8-12)
again this year with a limit of 40
contestants.
2008
NATIONAL FINALIST INVITEE COUNT AND CUTOFFS
|
Contest |
Grade |
Cutoff |
Finalists in each grade |
Count with Rank 1s |
Total |
|
JSB |
1 |
21 |
21 |
22 |
|
|
JSB |
2 |
22 |
45 |
50 |
|
|
JSB |
3 |
23 |
75 |
85 |
157 |
|
SSB |
4 |
20 |
19 |
20 |
|
|
SSB |
5 |
20 |
26 |
27 |
|
|
SSB |
6 |
21 |
19 |
21 |
|
|
SSB |
7 |
21 |
35 |
36 |
|
|
SSB |
8 |
21 |
15 |
16 |
120 |
|
JVB |
1 |
15 |
8 |
8 |
|
|
JVB |
2 |
16 |
20 |
22 |
|
|
JVB |
3 |
17 |
69 |
80 |
110 |
|
IVB |
4 |
21 |
10 |
10 |
|
|
IVB |
5 |
21 |
23 |
23 |
|
|
IVB |
6 |
22 |
22 |
22 |
|
|
IVB |
7 |
22 |
29 |
30 |
|
|
IVB |
8 |
22 |
36 |
37 |
122 |
|
SVB |
9 |
16 |
32 |
32 |
|
|
SVB |
10 |
16 |
15 |
15 |
|
|
SVB |
11 |
16 |
8 |
8 |
|
|
SVB |
12 |
16 |
1 |
1 |
56 |
|
MB1 |
1 |
18 |
35 |
38 |
|
|
MB1 |
2 |
19 |
100 |
113 |
152 |
|
MB2 |
3 |
16 |
15 |
16 |
|
|
MB2 |
4 |
17 |
45 |
50 |
|
|
MB2 |
5 |
18 |
62 |
77 |
143 |
|
MB3 |
6 |
14 |
35 |
35 |
|
|
MB3 |
7 |
15 |
45 |
51 |
|
|
MB3 |
8 |
16 |
35 |
39 |
125 |
|
JGB |
1 |
19 |
12 |
12 |
|
|
JGB |
2 |
21 |
18 |
18 |
|
|
JGB |
3 |
21 |
41 |
45 |
76 |
|
SGB |
4 |
18 |
21 |
21 |
|
|
SGB |
5 |
18 |
14 |
14 |
|
|
SGB |
6 |
20 |
20 |
23 |
|
|
SGB |
7 |
20 |
21 |
21 |
|
|
SGB |
8 |
20 |
9 |
9 |
88 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
1126 |