Just curious.
Semi vs Quarter Finalists- Which is better?
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Re: Semi vs Quarter
I'm assuming the quarter-finalists are the top 25% in a competition. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
If so, if you were in the top half of a contest, that wouldn't be as good as being in the top 25%.
But I believe it's "demi," rather than "semi," that means half. I'd say semi-finalist means something more like "almost-the-finalist,"
and it is, therefore, better than being a quarter-finalist.
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Quarter Vs Semi
I can actually understand the logic of the question.
Semi often denotes half (a deritive of semi-circle? i.e. half a circle). So it only seems logical that a quarter (a smaller quantity than a half) must mean that you're in the last quarter of entrants within the competition.
However, looking at the semantics: "semi-finalist" means you're half the writer a finalist will be, whereas "quarter-finalist" must mean you're a quarter of a writer of a finalist.
Ahhh... the ambiguity of the English language
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Re: Quarter Vs Semi
Most Quarterfinalists in reputable contests represent top 10% at least.
I don't know the exact etymology of the terms, but think of a competition tree for an Athletic event. Two teams battle for 1st place in the Final. The round before, 4 teams (2 pairs of teams) compete; each pairing will contribute half of the Final (hence Semifinals). One round earlier, 8 teams (4 pairs) compete - each pairing produces one of the four that advances to the next round, or a "quarter" of the Final.
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Zoetrope quarters
Actually the Zoetrope quarterfinalists were the top 5%, as there were around 100 quarterfinalists and around 2000 entries.
I know this because I made the quarters and I counted.
Quarterfinalists representing the top 5% is fairly standard--it's roughly the same for the Nicholl Fellowship.
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