<p>PAMom- based upon DS 2 years ago, yes NM issues a half-page sized certificate through the school. Unsigned, it was sitting on his desk in homeroom one morning that fall. Our school had a slew of semi-finalists that year so no ado was made for the commended students, nary a mention anywhere. I find it ironic that in the years were there were no SFs at our school, the Commended Scholars were much ballyhooed. I’m just a bitter parent I guess! Especially since DD is sitting on the border too and the early reports indicate that cut-offs will be higher - thus she won’t make it either. In my kids’ cases, I think I’ve been more excited about the potential NM recognition than they were. : )</p>
<p>WOW.
That’s all I can say after reading the official qualifying score thread.
Those are some insane jumps in cutoffs, and now i no longer feel safe.</p>
<p>For those of us parents with kids who did not make it and to the kids who did not make it, aaagggh… R u kidding me? i’m guessing the projected cutoff to be 240 next year. As I have time, I will make a longer vent, not so much about my kid not making it but more on how LONG this process has taken and how inconvenient this lengthy process has been for our families in the college planning process. HINT - our kids are seniors and working on college apps. We really needed a good idea before now which schools to apply to and which we should not consider further because they were out of our financial range if kid did not make NMSF(or NMF). not too happy with this process at the moment… 
it’s ok for the kids with super high scores but i’d be willing to bet those kids are a small minority of the 16000 who make it and although frustrating for the kids who knew all along they’d be commended at the end of the day, I still think this is far more frustrating for the bubble kids, and I’m guessing there are at least 10000 kids in this bubble. more on my vent later.</p>
<p>lonelynerd217, I know! Those are some crazy jumps even for the few states that have known results. It makes me wonder just how far the cutoffs will jump.
ctl987, I agree. Wish there were a better, more streamlined way to find this out. As if senior year isn’t stressful enough, and I mean for the parents. ;-)</p>
<p>Rockfishdg & GoHerky: Thank you for the info! CTL987: I wish this process ended earlier, also. We’ve known for months that my son was Commended, but he waited to put it on apps (some of which have been submitted) until he knew if he might be NMSF, etc. Now he has to go back to admissions and ask them to add his NMC status. He really isn’t that affected by the designation either way, I was the one hoping for the scholarships! Hopefully, his academics and other test scores will bring in some of those scholarships as well. Two lousy points!!! Tough to miss by such a small margin. Almost wish he would have missed by 10 points instead. :-)</p>
<p>indeed, SoWest 
I think it may be worse on us. Has your child also developed essayitis? </p>
<p>And to encourage us all, i just saw an e-mail from a school on our short list that does not award NM scholarships but has competitive merit scholarships. The school noted kid would get priority consideration for scholarships as well as the honors program. Yes. i know it’s marketing but there is still hope for life after NM land…</p>
<p>I was perfectly calm about this until today. I have a 196 in IA(obviously not national merit) and had thought that I had NA locked up but today I have found some years where the Texas(same region) was above my score and sometimes as high as 203. I’m freaking out,.</p>
<p>just hang in there yoskis… it has been nervewracking for all and good luck</p>
<p>I totally agree with the rants. This process is long and arduous, and then – when they DO know the cutoffs – do they just post them somewhere? Nope. They let them dribble in a bit at a time. Some schools give the info, some don’t; some are homeschooled and get the letters, others are at the mercy of the district (or the US mail). It’s absurd. And, if I may add, I hate the fact that kids with numbers as high as I’ve seen on these threads have to worry that they might not be “good enough.” Please. I agree…projected cutoffs for next year are at 240! :p</p>
<p>@ckfy63a @californiboy have you guys heard back yet from your schools?</p>
<p>Nope. My assistant principal claimed she hasn’t gotten the letter but when she does she will call me into her office. So I’m hoping I’ll hear from her tomorrow since we have the rest of the week off after that!!</p>
<p>Just spoke with our principal in MD and no letter yet. Hopefully tomorrow? <fingers crossed=""> Good luck to others still waiting…</fingers></p>
<p>Good luck to everyone who’s still waiting! I’ll be going through this next year–my D is class of 2015 and possibly a NMSF candidate and I’m stressed already and really don’t look forward to the waiting period.
I see that a number of states have cutoff scores higher than ever before, but has anyone kept track of states where there’s been no change? And has the cutoff gone down anywhere?</p>
<p>my GC claimed that our district had not yet recieved the letter and i didnt really want to argue beyond that… still waitiing…glad to know 229 in CA is a safe number tho -___- lol</p>
<p>Letter in the mail today. No cutoff info but 215 made it in OK. Hope you get your news soon.</p>
<p>@ckfy63a my GC claimed no letter had come yet… must be a socal thing hahha do post if you get any news and i will do the same</p>
<p>@californiboy I spoke to a co-worker who also is an alumni of my school and a NMF, and she told me that the assistant principal in charge of academics usually calls all the semi-finalists in as soon as she gets the letter. So I get the feeling that I’ll be hearing from her pretty soon. I have a friend with a 224 and another with a 231, so they’ll certainly keep me in the loop in the event that I don’t make it. Good luck!</p>
<p>@ckfy63a wow that is one dedicated administrator! thanks in advance for all your efforts</p>
<p>We are still awaiting notification from my son’s public high school in So Calif. None of our private school friends were notified today either. Our high school claims they were NOT notified in the Spring of any high scores, but our private school friends were given a copy of the NM letter. My question for anyone who has been through this before, is there really significant merit scholarship $$$$ available for NMSF and Finalists?</p>
<p>Calm down California people lol. I have a 220 in cali. Imagine how I’m feeling</p>