Georgia pays for sophomores to take the test as practice. Freshmen and Juniors may pay. Many at our school have already taken it twice before it counts in 11th grade.
Thanks, now I see how a district could make the argument that the free PSAT could be more impactful for a sophomore, if there’s not enough money to pay for both juniors and sophomores to take it.
DD is NMSF, 35 ACT, and has track/cross coaches inviting for official visits. She’s not interested in the schools that offer merit money. No corporate sponsor. Any scholarships for combined NMSF and athletics?
@mimisdad your best bet is to contact the school she is interested in and see what they offer. Many schools offer $0 for NMF.
Florida NMSF list: http://www.fldoe.org/newsroom/national-merit.stml
@lion19 THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I can now confirm I am a semifinalist!! One step closer to hopefully being able to afford USC 
I visted the University of Idaho today and I would highly recommend it to a NMF who wants a smaller school enviorment (about 10,000 students). Very nice personalized tour and meetings with deparment heads, up to date campus faclities (labs, dinning hall, furinture, athletic faclities etc.), helpful friendly people, and great food. Lots of oppertunities for research and faculty who are excited to help you find and oppurtunities and get involved. Also us very fair about transfer credits, which is important to me. And its a full ride for NMF! (I asked about specifics and outside scholarships stack (meaning money in your pocket for books and living) but UI ones don’t add to your NMF scholarship (which is fair enough). Anything you dont spend on your dorm or meal plan is yours too).
Yup. Our school district does that. Pay for sophomores but not for juniors when it really matters.
My S is a nmsf but has only taken the ACTs. I know that every nmsf has to take the SATs in order to move on to finalist. I just signed my S up for SATs but I have a question – do nmsfs need to take the essay portion of the SATs? I am assuming not but can anyone confirm?
@nymom9990 , same boat here. Registered for Oct SAT and I was told no essay needed. Congratulations to your son!
Finally got the letter today, after much back and forth. And they had a semifinalist last year, so??? This is not giving me a lot of confidence.
Thank you! Congratulations to your S too!
Not necessarily an issue. Some schools are a little slower to announce NMSFs. I don’t think it necessarily means they do not know what they are doing in terms of the finalist process.
Just curious. Can a student use an SAT score from a test they took before their PSAT for National Merit “confirmation”? Or does the confirming score have to come after they take the qualifying PSAT?
@homerdog yes, as long as they took it in high school.
@homerdog SAT must have been taken between October 2015 and December 2017 for class of 2018 NMSFs.
Anyone else have a NMSF kid who has never taken an SAT? I realize this a good problem to have, but the senior year AP course load has me really wishing I had pushed her to take one long ago so she would have a potential confirming score now. (She was an ACT kid).
@homerdog @3scoutsmom Go to the NMSF information. The SAT may have been taken before the PSAT but it is not a complete open window. DD took SAT end of freshman year and had to retake it to be a NMSF qualifier due to the timing (not to her score, which was good enough to confirm).
D submitted her NM Scholarship Application this afternoon. Unless we missed it, there was never the opportunity to submit the name of a teacher/counselor recommender - so I guess someone at her HS inputs that information.
She did mention that she had to give a recommenders name to someone in her HS this week - so I guess that’s how they get that info.
We still weren’t able to see her essay in the essay preview box (the whole thing is blank), but the essay shows-up when we click on the application preview icon. Must be a glitch in the program I guess.
Whoa! Help. DS showed me a question on the NMSF app and we are both confused. Here’s the question: “List paid employment held, academic year, and hours worked per week, e.g., lifeguard, grade 9, 10 hours/week.”
DS has had the same summer job since 9th grade, but he does not work (for pay) during the school year. Do summer jobs count? Are other DCs listing their summer jobs, or only employment during the actual school year?