<p>I just received a letter from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation telling me that I can inform 2 schools of my choice about my PSAT scores from October 2009. I am not sure which schools to send this report to. Is it to my advantage to send them to schools that are private over public? Do certain schools consider them more then others would? I would appreciate some insight. Thanks</p>
<p>Score: 224 (MD)
Schools interested:
Duke
University Texas - Austin
Purdue
Georgia Tech
University of Maryland College Park(In state)
UCSD
Syracuse</p>
<p>I’d say Duke and GT cause 224 is a good score.</p>
<p>here’s my dilemma</p>
<p>Score: 209
State: VA</p>
<p>Do I send them to my reaches Upenn and Columbia, or my in state matches WIlliam and Mary and UVA?</p>
<p>I’ve done a considerable amount of research on this over the past two days, and the general consensus seems to be that this is not a big deal. You can still let them know when/if you make NM[S]F, and most schools that offer big NM[S]F scholarships actually buy the list of winners.</p>
<p>I personally suspect that this program exists to give students who haven’t started the process yet a push to do some research. Consider it a chance to get more junk mail.</p>
<p>University of Texas at Austin currently does not participate in the National Merit program so no reason to send PSAT to them.</p>
<p>Somewhat off topic–NMSF status will mean you don’t have to pay the application fee to Maryland next fall, but that does not require you to include them in the two choices.</p>
<p>Would there be any benefit in naming two schools that offer significant NM money? </p>
<p>I think the list has already been put into play. D1 gets almost no college junk mail as she never checks the “send my name to colleges” box, but got an invite to a Rochester road show next month. Rochester is actually on her list, but she’d not put herself on their email list.</p>
<p>^ Are you sure she didn’t release her info when she took the PSAT? I’ve been getting mail from schools that mentions my PSAT performance/ possible NM status, since December-ish.</p>
<p>Choose the two you are most interested in. It really has no real impact on what happens later on. Most schools that want NM students purchase the list anyway and send you mail.</p>
<p>Mazewanderer is correct. Pick any 2 --not a big deal to them at this point.</p>
<p>Side note --even if a school does not participate in NMS (scholarship funds), it IS good to let them know of your status (when you apply) because it is a strong reflection of academic achievement, whether there is money attached or not.</p>
<p>I would STRONGLY encourage you to look at the following post and do some investigation to see if any of these schools will interest you.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064662075-post289.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064662075-post289.html</a></p>
<p>There are large amounts of money involved and you owe it to yourself to see if any of it is for you.</p>
<p>Woohoo…</p>
<p>Those OOS publics are expensive and don’t give NM scholarships (or don’t give much) or don’t give much FA to OOS students. So, unless you can pay full freight for those, I’d change my list.</p>
<p>you should include a couple of schools that are known to give big NM scholarships.</p>
<p>^^ The OP doesn’t have to commit now.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Oh I know…but by naming a couple of schools that give big NMF scholarships, he/she will get plenty of info from those schools and their scholarship offers.</p>
<p>217 from KY. How does that look? (Already gotten the first letter; I mean for Semis)</p>
<p>201 / WA
Son’s score seems too low to go beyond semi’s. Any value in making it to NMS semi’s in terms of acceptance rate or merit aid?</p>
<p>* NMS semi’s
201 / WA
Son’s score seems too low to go beyond semi’s. Any value in making it to NMS semi’s in terms of acceptance rate or merit aid? *</p>
<p>Sorry, but that is not making it to Semi. That is making it to Commended. Semi finalists are announced in the fall and for WA the cutoff is higher than that. </p>
<p>Very, very few schools give merit money for Commended. I think I’ve seen two lower tier schools.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in merit money, your son now has to get a high ACT or SAT score with a high GPA. Have him take both exams ASAP, and then work on weak areas and test again.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I assume you are talking about merit aid from the National merit scholarship? This score does not affect any other scholarship, so he can still try for anything else.</p>
<p>I do not understand the question "Any value in making it to NMS semi’s in terms of acceptance rate or merit aid? "</p>
<p>If he was in his junior year when he took the PSAT, there is nothing he can do about it. 201 will unfortunately not get him to semi-finalist (SF) in WA. He will be commended. In say WY possibly he would a SF but not WA. Generally those who get to SF generally get to be finalists (about 90%).</p>
<p>What can you do when you are most likely to be commended. You can use the two choices to tell schools that you are interested but really nothing beyond that. I was not aware that commended students did get aid but mom2collegekids has been around these forums for a long time and I trust her when she says that there are two schools, which you can check out. (mom2collegekids can you please post which schools offer merit money for commended or where I can find the list as I am curious to which schools those are and it might also help some of the readers.) Unfortunately there are lot more opportunities for SF and finalists. </p>
<p>That said, there are some special scholarships from employers for commended students. These are usually given when the employer has a certain number of scholarships and the number of NMF’s who meet the criteria are less than the number of scholarships. You can check to see if you or your husband work for an employer that provides such scholarships and if so, find out what you need to do.</p>
<p>Thank you so much. I think I understand that…</p>
<p>S2 will probably get a letter in the fall announcing he is a “commended scholar” but not a semi-finalist or finalist, given his score of 201/WA. This will probably NOT lead to any aid directly related to the NMS competition, but he could get other awards due to strong grades, high SAT scores and/or extra-curricular activities. Right?</p>
<p>Any advice here?
S2’s top choices are NYU / Stern and U Penn / Wharton. We live in Seattle, so he will also apply to UW / Foster, and to Drexel. His goal is to work in the fashion industry, in marketing, merchandising, etc. He originally intended to apply to Central Saint Martins or Parson’s in fashion design, but now feels less sure about his art abilities than his people skills.</p>
<p>It’s been a fun year penciling all the options in.</p>
<p>S1 is at Emerson/marketing communications and LOVES it.</p>
<p>^^^ Yes, The PSAT score affects only National Merit Scholarships. Other scholarships do not generally use PSAT as a criteria, so if he applies and meets the criteria for other scholarships, he should get them. Needless to say they can be very competitive.</p>
<p>*but he could get other awards due to strong grades, high SAT scores and/or extra-curricular activities. Right?</p>
<p>Any advice here?
S2’s top choices are NYU / Stern and U Penn / Wharton. We live in Seattle, so he will also apply to UW / Foster, and to Drexel. His goal is to work in the fashion industry, in marketing, merchandising, etc. He originally intended to apply to Central Saint Martins or Parson’s in fashion design, but now feels less sure about his art abilities than his people skills.*</p>
<p>UPenn won’t give him anything based on his scores…Ivies don’t give merit awards. Anything he gets will be based on your entire family’s income and assets (including the income/assets of his dad if you’re divorced). </p>
<p>NYU is horrible with aid and with scholarships. If you read the threads about NYU, they tend to put huge loans in their FA packages and some scholarships for certain majors with tippy top scores. NYU states on its website that it can’t meet need.</p>
<p>Both schools use FAFSA and CSS Profile to determine what THEY think you should be able to afford to pay (usually a shockingly high amount). UPenn meets “need” but they get to determine what your “need” is regardless of your debt, etc. </p>
<p>So, if your son will need merit money to go to college, he’ll need other choices. what are his SAT or ACT scores?</p>