@butterbear You can call them, but it won’t really affect anything (since many students change majors)
@ynotgo Surprised your son didnt get anything. Really surprised. So sorry.
@calmomofcats What was your son’s SSI?
DD is class of 2018 and scored a 224 SSI… Should someone have provided an application for her to fill out to advance in the competition or how does that work exactly? When I asked her school advisor, the advisor pretty much blew it off as NBD. How did your students know what to do after their PSAT scores came in?
@dowzerw It’s a long process. Your DD doesn’t need to do anything until September of senior year. Around now, the high schools are asked for address changes for any of the kids who will be commended. So, that is the commended cutoff that people were asking about on the thread for your year. With a 224, she should have no problem.
@Ynotgo I’ve read comments about essays being submitted. When does that happen? How will she know to do that? Is it up to her school to notify her she has to fill something out or will NMS let her know?
I think the information was given to students in September of senior year and the essay was due by early October.
This is a good thread to read: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1365011-faq-for-the-psat-sat-nmsf-nmf-process-p1.html
@dowzerrw with a 224 your D is almost certainly NMSF in her state. Keep an eye on the college confidential threads in August because usually the cut-scores for each state can be crowd sourced early on. Letters and packets to homeschools and to schools start arriving late in the month. Art at Compass Prep. also did an amazing job last year and, with the help of CC parents, got every state cut-off determined by August 31 which has to be a record. National Merit makes a public announcement in mid-September so anyone who hasn’t heard by then can call them to find out. Your daughter’s school will have her packet and directions for logging on and completing the application and essay. (if she is homeschooled it’ll come to you as her principal). Some early bird (usually a homeschooling parent) will probably post the essay question on CC for everyone to get started, even if they don’t have their official confirmation and packets yet. The question last year was the same as prior years so they’re not changing it up very often at all.
Good luck to her!
@dowzerw At the end of August the Principal at the school that your D attends will receive notification of the students who are named as NM Semifinalists. You will be asked to keep in the information confidential until the release date which is usually in September. Complete instructions will be made available to the Semifinalists for complete the necessary steps that will lead to being named Finalists. You will be given a Username and Password to the National Merit Scholarship website where more information is available.
Best Wishes to her!
@HSCounselor2 Thank you SO much for that information. I will relax now and let the process work itself through.
@JBStillFlying Thanks so much. I am so grateful SOMEONE knows how it goes. What is more complicating is that she goes to a boarding school and so apparently the threshold she will need to cross will not be from her home state (MD) or from her school’s state (CT) but from the highest of the states in her school’s region (New England). Would love for her to be able to do the essay in the summer rather than during senior year college apps season but probably not worth having her use last year’s question then find out they did not recycle again. It’s interesting all the steps the kids have to go through to compete for what is most likely only going to yield a $2500 scholarship. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to offer your knowledge. I love the CC community.
@Ynotgo Thank you, thank you! I’ll go follow that link now…
Not true, many students end up at schools that give SUBSTANTIAL scholarships for National Merit
check out this list http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
My D16 is attending OU with a $130,000 non resident National merit scholarship. DS16 hopes to attend UTD with a $100,000 in state National Merit scholarship.
I’ll bet that more kids end up taking college sponsored National Merit scholarships than end up getting the $2,500 scholarship from National Merit.
@dowzerw I agree with @3scoutsmom ! My D17 will be attending Alabama with a $160K National Merit package. She had narrowed it down to OU or Alabama. If you keep an open mind regarding schools before visiting, you may be pleasantly surprised. We definitely were! Good luck through the long process.
“Would love for her to be able to do the essay in the summer rather than during senior year college apps season but probably not worth having her use last year’s question then find out they did not recycle again”
@dowzerw she might be able to use her CA essay or tweak it a bit. No need to reinvent the wheel. While the essay prompt may change, most likely it won’t (or won’t change all that much) so she can at least take a look and figure out how she’d answer it. If I could remember the prompt I’d post it here but you should be able to find it on the internet or CC somewhere.
@dowzerw: Add me to those who agree with @3scoutsmom and @Momof2TX
One of mine took a full ride to a school that was not at all on her radar until we pushed a visit after we saw that she’d get a full ride.
Given what can come of it, the National Merit process, in my view, is a very reasonable one that is worth every single step. And given the multitude of writing for apps and scholarships they start working senior year (or late junior year even), the NM one can likely be adapted from one already in their arsenal of essays, as @JBStillFlying stated.
@dowz don’t stress about the essay it is not that big a deal and she can likely adapt one of her other essays. And NMF IS a very big deal to those electing to take advantage of the schools offering substantial NMF scholarships.
@dowzerw Seriously don’t stress about one essay. My son ended up with a Google Doc with 40-50 pages of essays for college and scholarship applications.
@Ynotgo lol that def won’t happen here but glad to hear it should all be do-able
I just want to say that I looked up the NMF scholarships for University of Alabama, Oklahoma, and Kentucky today, and I am amazed. I am just doing some research. My fingers are crossed because we are in PA and my daughter’s SI is what last year’s cut off was. So if it goes up at all, it’s a no go. What amazing opportunities are out there. Best of luck to all of you seniors.
I have not read all posts, but here are Tips: 1. Get App/Essay completed by Deadline 2. Take the SAT 3. Maintain high GPA
Good Luck! It’s a great experience! 