No you don't need to be a HEROES member to participate. The Writing Talent Search is designed to be an identification instrument. Read
http://www.heroesgifted.org/Searching_for_Shakespeare for more details on the purpose and design of the Writing Talent Search.
You are correct that the page listing the qualifying test scores was expanded. Our standard has not changed -- 95th percentile compared to students three years older than the applicant. But we added more examples based on data available for other tests that many students have taken.
A student only needs to qualify on ONE section of ONE test. We recognize that many students only qualify based on math but not reading or the other way around.
