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SAT and National Merit Semifinalist questions


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I would really appreciate some advice.

 

Background: My dd (rising senior) has taken the ACT and the PSAT. Her PSAT score was several points above last year's cut-off score for our state so I think there is a chance she could be a semi-finalist. I know you then have to take the SAT to confirm. I have a couple of questions about that.

 

1. When do you have to have taken the SAT by if you hear, in September I think, that you are a semi-finalist?

 

2. What score do you need to get on the SAT in order to proceed as a semi-finalist / finalist?

 

3. My dd took the ACT in 10th grade. We were taking it as a bit of a practice, so she did not take the writing section. She ended up getting a good score (34 composite). I'm concerned about the writing section though. Do you think I should just see if she is going to need to take the SAT and then have her take that with the writing section? Should she retake the ACT and do the writing section, and what happens if she scores lower on that attempt?

 

Thanks for any advice/thoughts. I'm going round and round in my head trying to figure out what to do.

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One thing that I need to figure out is if I should have her take the SAT in August or October. We had hoped to have her take it in August but the summer has been so busy, mission trip and then away at Robotics camp this week, as well as working and volunteering, that she hasn't done much prep yet. If we can wait until October that might be better because she can do some more gradual prep which sort of suits her learning style better.

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You can take it in the fall after being notified of semifinalist status. DD18 submitted SAT scores from middle school to colleges, so she had to take the SAT again to become National Merit Finalist.  She took it in October I believe so that she'd have a recent score.

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You can take it in the fall after being notified of semifinalist status. DD18 submitted SAT scores from middle school to colleges, so she had to take the SAT again to become National Merit Finalist.  She took it in October I believe so that she'd have a recent score.

 

Thanks that's good to know, so October would be ok. Do you know how high the SAT score needs to be to qualify? I'm just really in the dark about the National Merit thing and I don't want to miss something.

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Thanks that's good to know, so October would be ok. Do you know how high the SAT score needs to be to qualify? I'm just really in the dark about the National Merit thing and I don't want to miss something.

The National Merit folks set the cut-off.  I don't remember when they announce the cutt-off score, but it will be lower than the lowest state's qualifying score. 

 

As the principal of your homeschool, you will receive a letter in September that outlines the process so you won't have to worry about missing anything.  The National Merit folks are also good about answering questions over the phone.

 

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The National Merit folks set the cut-off.  I don't remember when they announce the cutt-off score, but it will be lower than the lowest state's qualifying score. 

 

As the principal of your homeschool, you will receive a letter in September that outlines the process so you won't have to worry about missing anything.  The National Merit folks are also good about answering questions over the phone.

 

 

Thank you that is really good to know!

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Gratia271 and snowbeltmom do you have any words of wisdom about the whole ACT and writing thing? Do you think it would be good for her to also take the ACT again with the writing portion this time. I could kick myself for not having her do that when she took it.

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Gratia271 and snowbeltmom do you have any words of wisdom about the whole ACT and writing thing? Do you think it would be good for her to also take the ACT again with the writing portion this time. I could kick myself for not having her do that when she took it.

Do any of the schools on your daughter's list require the ACT with writing?  Many colleges no longer require the essay section for either the ACT or the SAT. 

 

If your daughter will be taking the SAT, and schools requir3e a test with an essay score, I would focus on the SAT and forget about submitting an ACT score, provided your daughter tests equally as well on both tests.

 

Good luck!

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Do any of the schools on your daughter's list require the ACT with writing?  Many colleges no longer require the essay section for either the ACT or the SAT. 

 

If your daughter will be taking the SAT, and schools requir3e a test with an essay score, I would focus on the SAT and forget about submitting an ACT score, provided your daughter tests equally as well on both tests.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice. We are having a hard time deciding where to apply so hard to be sure none will require it. So far the ones we are seriously considering don't. 

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Gratia271 and snowbeltmom do you have any words of wisdom about the whole ACT and writing thing? Do you think it would be good for her to also take the ACT again with the writing portion this time. I could kick myself for not having her do that when she took it.

 

If she is going to take the SAT to verify PSAT score, I  would just focus on that with essay if necessary. If you think her ACT score would be better for college applications, though, I would do that. If you take the SAT to qualify for NMF after college apps have been sent, you don't have to use that score for anything beside NMF.  That is what my daughter did.

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I have not found many schools that require the ACT with writing.  When you sign up for the ACT, and it asks whether you want writing or not, there is a box for you to search for colleges and see if they require or recommend writing or not.  This tool is not accurate.  I pulled down three or four solidly mid-tier schools, and it said they all required writing.  I independently checked the schools' websites, however, and not one of them did.  One of them is actually even completely test-optional.  For my sample group of 3 or 4, the ACT folks batted .000.  That's really the sort of misleading information I would expect from the College Board, not the ACT, so I was surprised.  Perhaps these schools used to require writing and have dropped that, but ACT has, conveniently for them, never updated its website.  I would not take the ACT again just to take the writing component without a compelling reason.

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I have not found many schools that require the ACT with writing.  

 

We encountered some schools that requested either several SAT subject tests OR  the ACT with writing. I can't recall which schools, and sveral schools have changed their admissions requirements since DD applied.

We operated on the principle better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 

However, I would not have  a student with a 34 composite retake the test just for the writing, unless she definitely knew her school of choice required it. 

Edited by regentrude
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We encountered some schools that requested either several SAT subject tests OR  the ACT with writing. I can't recall which schools, and sveral schools have changed their admissions requirements since DD applied.

We operated on the principle better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 

However, I would not have  a student with a 34 composite retake the test just for the writing, unless she definitely knew her school of choice required it. 

 

:iagree:

Many schools dropped the essay requirement for both the SAT and ACT last year.  Prepscholar has an up to date list on which schools no longer require the essay.  Like Plansme mentioned, do not rely on the information listed on either the College Board or the ACT websites regarding this issue, as neither has accurate information.

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The SAT cut off has historically been around 700-per-test or so. (It was a bit lower before the recent revamp of the SAT that upped scores by about 20-30 per section). It should be around or even a bit lower than the PSAT cut off for Commended. In general, in order not to mess up their state-equity-goals, it has got to be at or lower than the "commended" cut off, which is itself typically at the lowest state's PSAT cut off for semifinalist in that state. (So, in our state of WV, which is typically among the lowest PSAT cutoff for NMSF, the commended = semifinalist cutoff. If they made the "confirming SAT score" higher than that, it'd be too hard for those in weak states like WV with NMSF to confirm to NMF . . . and they don't want that. So, confirming SAT will typically be a bit lower than the "commended" cutoff for NM.

 

Last year, it was a 209 Selection Index for the cut off for confirming SAT scores, which is calculated by doubling the English score and then adding the Math (and then dropping a 0, lol). So, if you had 680 E & 710 M, your score would be (680 x 2) + 710 = 2070. Drop a 0, you're at 207, so no go. If you got 710 E & 680 M, You get 710x2+680=2100, so 210, and you're golden. If you're 700/700, then you're all good at 210. So, general message is around 700 per section, but if your kid is much stronger in math, then you need to double check that their E score is high enough, as the double weighting pinches hard on mathy-kids.

 

(When it's my family, I would have them retest until they are COMFORTABLY above the confirming score. Last year, I heard that the folks at NMSC were actually happy to tell you on the phone what the cut off was. Not sure how early that happened. For my kids, we just retested until we were satisfied they'd done as well as they possibly needed for their goals.)

 

Here's a recent blog post that explains how NMSC is now doing the confirming score: http://www.compassprep.com/psat-national-merit-faq/

 

The paperwork from NM will tell you the exact deadlines for your class of kids, but, in general, they have historically accepted confirming SAT dates between October of 10th grade and December of 12th grade.

 

Here's the official NM instructions from 2017. http://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_r_i_leaflet.pdf?no_cookie=1 You'll get something just like that along with the NMSF and/or NM Commended letters. 

 

Definitely peruse this list: http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com and bookmark it. 

 

It's not entirely accurate all the time, as schools update their requirements periodically. It's a great starting place, though, and you can go to each school's website to confirm current details. 

 

Also peruse here and book mark this forum. The people who created and keep up dated the yolasite started here . . . and there are a zillion very helpful threads and people. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/

 

(College Confidential is, to college search/scholarship/etc process, what this forum has been to me for homeschooling . . .)

 

FYI, it's too late for your kid . . . but for other readers with kids who have NM potential . . . What I do is have my kids take the SAT in spring of 10th grade as a practice for the all important Fall 11th grade PSAT. If you are lucky, that SAT score will be high enough to act as the confirming SAT score . . . taking pressure off of re-testing SAT in 11th/12th grade (still a great idea for college apps, as the score will likely increase a good bit, if, as was the case with my kids, they didn't do much actual test prep before that 10th grade SAT.) 

 

My elder two kids are both NM Scholars and are on *awesome* NM scholarships at U Alabama. Kid#1 is going into her 3rd year and Kid#2 is a freshman this fall. Kid#1 loves is *so much* and I've been very impressed. Please feel free to PM me if I can offer any helpful info. 

 

UA info: http://scholarships.ua.edu/nationalscholars/

 

Note, UA is generous in that they "stack" any outside or departmental scholarships . . . Including the 2500/yr they offer strong students who are in the Engineering College. Mine are both in the Engineering college . . .

 

I *strongly* advise you to help your kid pick at least a couple easy-application-guaranteed-big-money NM schools and apply early. Some of those big money schools like U Alabama have firm deadlines for application to get their big scholarships. Some of the deadlines are as early as December of the senior year. So, just pick a couple reasonable schools and get the apps complete by fall of senior year. It's maybe $100 in application fees and an hour of time to nail down a couple of those schools . . . where your kid will be guaranteed a full ride or nearly so (depending on the school). It's a pretty awesome position to be in October of senior year . . . fully admitted to a solid school with full funding . . . takes a LOT of pressure off the college app cycle.

 

When you get down to it, it's really hard to turn down 150-200k in help with college financing . . . Even if you can afford to pay for undergrad . . .Think what else you could do with that $$$ -- for your kids' benefit or for your own future . . . We have always had a $$ limit for college, and having the kids mostly self-fund undergrad via scholarships allows us to spoil them during undergrad (spending money, freedom to not work for $$ but just for good experience/etc, having a car, still taking nice vacations, etc) and will also allow them to reserve some of their "bank of Mom and Dad" funding to help with grad or professional school or other adult needs/desires. (This is a moot point if your family can qualify for good need-based aid. In that case, up the ante and apply widely to top tier schools that fully meet need . . . Our family doesn't qualify for any need based aid, but can't actually afford the 60-70k/yr that the magic EFC calculations say we can . . . so ours didn't apply to Ivies, etc, that are very generous with need-based aid but do nothing for merit aid (since all their students would deserve it!!)

 

Hope this helps!!
 

CONGRATULATONS on a JOB WELL DONE!! 

 

ps. Read all the NM instructions carefully and don't miss any deadlines! Call their 800 line with any questions. They are very nice. Feel free to PM me with any questions at any time. The paperwork for you as the "principal" is long but not as difficult as it seems. Do plan to allow several hours to complete it all online, and do NOT leave it to the last minute, as you may need to ask some questions, and once you hit "Complete" you can't re-do it, and so it's rather scary to think you might be screwing it up. (I was pretty panicked the first time, and fortunately had a close hs'ing friend who'd done it for her two older boys . . . the 2nd time was easier, lol.)

 

pps. Just in case you don't research it . . . when you are writing your child's transcript for NMSC, be aware that any grades below a B are a big problem. The vast majority of kids who don't make it from NMSF to NMF . . . are knocked out by one to two Cs . . . 15,000 out of 16,000 make the cut, so it's nearly guaranteed the kid will make it so long as you jump through the hoops, get the SAT score, and don't have Cs or worse on the transcript. Just FYI. 

Edited by StephanieZ
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ps. On occasion, paid/registered kids are turned away from testing dates because of some disaster or clerical goof. 

 

I'd highly advise you to have her take the SAT ASAP  . . . and go ahead and register for a second date before the deadline, too, just in case.

 

Certainly don't wait for the last possible date!

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What I do is have my kids take the SAT in spring of 10th grade as a practice for the all important Fall 11th grade PSAT. If you are lucky, that SAT score will be high enough to act as the confirming SAT score . . . taking pressure off of re-testing SAT in 11th/12th grade (still a great idea for college apps, as the score will likely increase a good bit, if, as was the case with my kids, they didn't do much actual test prep before that 10th grade SAT.) 

 

 

 

Do you also recommend taking the PSAT in 10th grade if the child is taking the SAT in the spring?  My daughter took the SAT in 9th grade and did very well.  I was thinking of having her skip taking the practice PSAT in the fall and taking the SAT only again in the spring of 10th grade to prepare for the 11th grade PSAT, but don't know if it would be a mistake to skip the 10th grade PSAT.

 

Thanks for all the info!  This is all new to me.  

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The SAT cut off has historically been around 700-per-test or so. (It was a bit lower before the recent revamp of the SAT that upped scores by about 20-30 per section). It should be around or even a bit lower than the PSAT cut off for Commended. In general, in order not to mess up their state-equity-goals, it has got to be at or lower than the "commended" cut off, which is itself typically at the lowest state's PSAT cut off for semifinalist in that state. (So, in our state of WV, which is typically among the lowest PSAT cutoff for NMSF, the commended = semifinalist cutoff. If they made the "confirming SAT score" higher than that, it'd be too hard for those in weak states like WV with NMSF to confirm to NMF . . . and they don't want that. So, confirming SAT will typically be a bit lower than the "commended" cutoff for NM.

 

Last year, it was a 209 Selection Index for the cut off for confirming SAT scores, which is calculated by doubling the English score and then adding the Math (and then dropping a 0, lol). So, if you had 680 E & 710 M, your score would be (680 x 2) + 710 = 2070. Drop a 0, you're at 207, so no go. If you got 710 E & 680 M, You get 710x2+680=2100, so 210, and you're golden. If you're 700/700, then you're all good at 210. So, general message is around 700 per section, but if your kid is much stronger in math, then you need to double check that their E score is high enough, as the double weighting pinches hard on mathy-kids.

 

Here's a recent blog post that explains how NMSC is now doing the confirming score: http://www.compassprep.com/psat-national-merit-faq/

 

Definitely peruse this list: http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com and bookmark it.

 

It's not entirely accurate all the time, as schools update their requirements periodically. It's a great starting place, though, and you can go to each school's website to confirm current details.

 

Also peruse here and book mark this forum. The people who created and keep up dated the yolasite started here . . . and there are a zillion very helpful threads and people. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/

 

Thanks for this info, Stephanie! We have been through this process twice, but we never knew how the minimum qualifying SAT scores were calculated. Very, very helpful!
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The SAT cut off has historically been around 700-per-test or so. (It was a bit lower before the recent revamp of the SAT that upped scores by about 20-30 per section). It should be around or even a bit lower than the PSAT cut off for Commended. In general, in order not to mess up their state-equity-goals, it has got to be at or lower than the "commended" cut off, which is itself typically at the lowest state's PSAT cut off for semifinalist in that state. (So, in our state of WV, which is typically among the lowest PSAT cutoff for NMSF, the commended = semifinalist cutoff. If they made the "confirming SAT score" higher than that, it'd be too hard for those in weak states like WV with NMSF to confirm to NMF . . . and they don't want that. So, confirming SAT will typically be a bit lower than the "commended" cutoff for NM.

 

Last year, it was a 209 Selection Index for the cut off for confirming SAT scores, which is calculated by doubling the English score and then adding the Math (and then dropping a 0, lol). So, if you had 680 E & 710 M, your score would be (680 x 2) + 710 = 2070. Drop a 0, you're at 207, so no go. If you got 710 E & 680 M, You get 710x2+680=2100, so 210, and you're golden. If you're 700/700, then you're all good at 210. So, general message is around 700 per section, but if your kid is much stronger in math, then you need to double check that their E score is high enough, as the double weighting pinches hard on mathy-kids.

 

(When it's my family, I would have them retest until they are COMFORTABLY above the confirming score. Last year, I heard that the folks at NMSC were actually happy to tell you on the phone what the cut off was. Not sure how early that happened. For my kids, we just retested until we were satisfied they'd done as well as they possibly needed for their goals.)

 

Here's a recent blog post that explains how NMSC is now doing the confirming score: http://www.compassprep.com/psat-national-merit-faq/

 

The paperwork from NM will tell you the exact deadlines for your class of kids, but, in general, they have historically accepted confirming SAT dates between October of 10th grade and December of 12th grade.

 

Here's the official NM instructions from 2017. http://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_r_i_leaflet.pdf?no_cookie=1 You'll get something just like that along with the NMSF and/or NM Commended letters. 

 

Definitely peruse this list: http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com and bookmark it. 

 

It's not entirely accurate all the time, as schools update their requirements periodically. It's a great starting place, though, and you can go to each school's website to confirm current details. 

 

Also peruse here and book mark this forum. The people who created and keep up dated the yolasite started here . . . and there are a zillion very helpful threads and people. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/

 

(College Confidential is, to college search/scholarship/etc process, what this forum has been to me for homeschooling . . .)

 

FYI, it's too late for your kid . . . but for other readers with kids who have NM potential . . . What I do is have my kids take the SAT in spring of 10th grade as a practice for the all important Fall 11th grade PSAT. If you are lucky, that SAT score will be high enough to act as the confirming SAT score . . . taking pressure off of re-testing SAT in 11th/12th grade (still a great idea for college apps, as the score will likely increase a good bit, if, as was the case with my kids, they didn't do much actual test prep before that 10th grade SAT.) 

 

My elder two kids are both NM Scholars and are on *awesome* NM scholarships at U Alabama. Kid#1 is going into her 3rd year and Kid#2 is a freshman this fall. Kid#1 loves is *so much* and I've been very impressed. Please feel free to PM me if I can offer any helpful info. 

 

UA info: http://scholarships.ua.edu/nationalscholars/

 

Note, UA is generous in that they "stack" any outside or departmental scholarships . . . Including the 2500/yr they offer strong students who are in the Engineering College. Mine are both in the Engineering college . . .

 

I *strongly* advise you to help your kid pick at least a couple easy-application-guaranteed-big-money NM schools and apply early. Some of those big money schools like U Alabama have firm deadlines for application to get their big scholarships. Some of the deadlines are as early as December of the senior year. So, just pick a couple reasonable schools and get the apps complete by fall of senior year. It's maybe $100 in application fees and an hour of time to nail down a couple of those schools . . . where your kid will be guaranteed a full ride or nearly so (depending on the school). It's a pretty awesome position to be in October of senior year . . . fully admitted to a solid school with full funding . . . takes a LOT of pressure off the college app cycle.

 

When you get down to it, it's really hard to turn down 150-200k in help with college financing . . . Even if you can afford to pay for undergrad . . .Think what else you could do with that $$$ -- for your kids' benefit or for your own future . . . We have always had a $$ limit for college, and having the kids mostly self-fund undergrad via scholarships allows us to spoil them during undergrad (spending money, freedom to not work for $$ but just for good experience/etc, having a car, still taking nice vacations, etc) and will also allow them to reserve some of their "bank of Mom and Dad" funding to help with grad or professional school or other adult needs/desires. (This is a moot point if your family can qualify for good need-based aid. In that case, up the ante and apply widely to top tier schools that fully meet need . . . Our family doesn't qualify for any need based aid, but can't actually afford the 60-70k/yr that the magic EFC calculations say we can . . . so ours didn't apply to Ivies, etc, that are very generous with need-based aid but do nothing for merit aid (since all their students would deserve it!!)

 

Hope this helps!!

 

CONGRATULATONS on a JOB WELL DONE!! 

 

ps. Read all the NM instructions carefully and don't miss any deadlines! Call their 800 line with any questions. They are very nice. Feel free to PM me with any questions at any time. The paperwork for you as the "principal" is long but not as difficult as it seems. Do plan to allow several hours to complete it all online, and do NOT leave it to the last minute, as you may need to ask some questions, and once you hit "Complete" you can't re-do it, and so it's rather scary to think you might be screwing it up. (I was pretty panicked the first time, and fortunately had a close hs'ing friend who'd done it for her two older boys . . . the 2nd time was easier, lol.)

 

pps. Just in case you don't research it . . . when you are writing your child's transcript for NMSC, be aware that any grades below a B are a big problem. The vast majority of kids who don't make it from NMSF to NMF . . . are knocked out by one to two Cs . . . 15,000 out of 16,000 make the cut, so it's nearly guaranteed the kid will make it so long as you jump through the hoops, get the SAT score, and don't have Cs or worse on the transcript. Just FYI. 

 

I'm quoting this so that I can easily find it later.

 

Thank you for this post; it is excellent.

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Do you also recommend taking the PSAT in 10th grade if the child is taking the SAT in the spring?  My daughter took the SAT in 9th grade and did very well.  I was thinking of having her skip taking the practice PSAT in the fall and taking the SAT only again in the spring of 10th grade to prepare for the 11th grade PSAT, but don't know if it would be a mistake to skip the 10th grade PSAT.

 

Thanks for all the info!  This is all new to me.  

 

Absolutely. The more practice, the better. :) The PSAT is very similar to the SAT, and certainly extra PSAT practice is all good. Take the PSAT in fall, the SAT in Spring . . . as much as you can stomach. :)

 

I also recommend the Khan Academy PSAT (and SAT) prep series. I also used a couple PSAT prep and SAT prep books for practice tests, etc. When your kid is a NM contender, the prep tests are super helpful because they'll typically only miss a handful of questions in each section/test . . . allowing you to easily go through each and every missed question and figure out what the misses are. My kids typically knew pretty much 100% of the content covered in these tests, so prep-ping is actually very fast and effective because there are so few weak areas, and most of the weaknesses are quickly resolved with simply becoming familiar with the test format and/or some review of some (to them) very easy math concept, etc. 

 

Neither of my kids did any prep for their 10th grade SAT. But, they did about 10 hours or so of PSAT specific prep. DD1 did it with me, with prep books and practice tests and going over missed questions. DS2 did it all on his own with Khan Academy. (He was in a cranky state of mind and didn't want my help.) Both did well. (But I know DS2 would have done even better if he'd spent 5-10 hours allowing me to administer and correct practice tests with him . . .) 

 

If my kid were a potential NM contender and I myself didn't feel 100% confident to do that targeted prep with them . . . I'd hire a pro at 100-200/hr if needed for those hours of prep. 

 

I figure the that at 10 hours of prep each, they earned about $20,000 per hour for their test prep. Pretty darn good return on the time invested . . . And was worth the hassling them, lol.

Edited by StephanieZ
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