some schools require a copy of the letter by a certain date. Others simply wait for the notification from National Merit. My daughter is strongly considering two full ride schools, University of Idaho and Mississippi State. U of I required a copy of her letter by March 1st. Mississippi State waits for the list from National Merit, so we didn’t send them anything.
Our Letter from KY said we have until MAY 1 to accept NMF offer. **** ^:)^
@mageecrew I would definitely contact the Principal about NM Finalist notification. The Principals receive this information first and Counselor may not be informed. Most schools are proud to send out press releases to local media to congratulate the students.
I (as a National Merit Finalist) was wondering if there were any notable colleges with prominent NMF scholarships that are still open to applicants. As of now I have applied to only Ivy Leagues, and am only now waking up to the fact that I do not want a $200,000 deficit when emerging from college.
Lol.
@Athena00 Try University of Kentucky, Alabama or Oklahoma. My D still gets requests to apply.
@Athena00 I don’t have their published deadlines, & you mentioned notable.
So, instead, all I can offer is that my S is NMF, and we applied to U Central FL, U of KY, and U of TX Dallas, since they have full rides. You can check dates, since some may still offer you $$, since you are NMF.
if you have questions about them, please ask!
@Athena00 University of Oklahoma allowed me to apply late I just had to call them. They have been very accommodating
I just emailed OU today and they said I could still apply, they were very friendly about it
Do you guys think computer science is worth it at OU compared to an UC?
I think University of Kentucky deadline is March 15th. My S just got a flyer in the mail yesterday asking him to apply as a NMF.
Does anyone know how likely it is that nmsf cutoffs will change?
According to this schedule, the letters notifying the winners of the one time $2500 National Merit Scholarship will be mailed Thursday March 23. I think in the past winners were able to access the letter on their portal the same day as the mailing.
http://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_r_i_leaflet.pdf
my son received corporation national merit scholarship on spring break via mail and was posted on his portal
You are all so knowledgeable about this process, and I think my last post was confusing. I was wondering if the score cutoffs would change for fall of 2017. My daughter is currently a junior in high school, and this is just the start of a possible nmsf/nmf journey. Her index score was a 218 (1460). We are in Pennsylvania. I was told that the score cutoff for PA last year was a 218. However, our school said in a letter that the cutoff is generally around 217. I was hoping someone would know if it was likely that the score cutoff would change for this upcoming fall of 2017. Also, do you pretty much just wait and learn with this process? It seems slow and tedious. Anything I need to know or look out for? Thanks.
@Winky1 After PSAT, we did the essay/application by the deadline, took required SAT, maintained high GPA, & waited.
@Winky1 you can check this web site
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/national-merit-semifinalist-cutoffs/
Thank you @2sunny and @oblivion2017. That website and article are very helpful. Much appreciated.
@Winky No one can say for sure whether a state cutoff will be the same as it was in the previous year. Sometimes it changes and sometimes it doesn’t. It all depends on which cutoff score will give a state the right number of semifinalists. So every year the suspense is high as the kids wait to find out if they made it.
@Winky1 There will be more data after the April letters hit schools, generally the commended cutoff is figured out in a couple of days and that website will have updated cutoff predictions, if necessary.
@ollie113 So our high school will be notified with an April letter so that they know to double check as to whether or not my daughter and others are still qualified to be nmsf. Then, commended cutoff score is established before the actual individual state cutoffs are. And is the commended cutoff score the same nationwide?
@Winky1 Yes, it is the same nationwide. It is equal to the lowest cutoff for all the states. That leads to the result that the state with the lowest cutoff has no Commended students.