OH, and I am under the impression that it is electronically done just like the student portion…hopefully not snail mail!
OH, and I am under the impression that it is electronically done just like the student portion…hopefully not snail mail!
It is all electronic. Once the student submits their portion, the school can submit their portion (classes, grades entered manually, letter of rec, etc). They can do most of it at the same time student is filling out their portion, but they can’t hit the final submit until the kid hits submit on theirs.
I’m not sure what the last part looks like, but I believe there is a final, “We endorse this kid” button. I’m not sure, but there should be a line in the student’s main portal screen that shows when everything (application-wise) is submitted. (Ours is still awaiting that last magical bit, so I don’t know what it’ll say.)
Just checked and ours now says, “Transmitted to NMSC”. So, I think that’s what it says when it is done. But someone else should verify that.
Everything is due by the 10th, so Wednesday.
@Reebtoor I just went into the portal and I think mine might have been completed and sent now too because our status reads:
Your completed application was transmitted to NMSC on 10/04/18
last thing – just to be sure I called NMSC and had them look up my daughter to make sure the portal really meant it was completely submitted (that the school had done everything) and he confirmed that the “status update” really did mean it was all complete. But then he pulled up my daughter’s info to confirm. He knew also that she had not submitted SAT scores yet. She had gone in last night to do that but he said it can take up to 2 weeks for them to receive them but that those are not needed until Dec. 15 (I think he said?).
@FrozenMainMom Yes! I just came to update that the student portal says, “Your completed application was transmitted to NMSC on [Date]” if it has been submitted. The NMSC people are incredibly nice and patient, so if anyone has questions, you can call them.
@Reebtoor and @FrozenMaineMom , THANK Y’ALL so much for your help today! I just called NMSC too. They could tell me that my daughter’s part was complete but that the school’s was in progress and not submitted. She assured me that they will not penalize her for the school’s tardiness. They can give the school an extension if they need it. Our principal should be back on Tuesday and since it is electronic, I think it will be okay. I feel so much better now! Thank you again for your comments and sharing today! PS I loved how the hold music told me what number in line I was. Nice Touch.
hi all,
- in the NMSF form, in colleges page, there are 3 options
“attend regionally accredited college”
“undecided”
" and attend an unaccredited college…"
which option to choose?
student is planning to attend a computer engineering or science program at regular college like UPitt.
- if the student is not sure what college to list in option one “attend regionally accredited college”, then what should we do?
List it as “undecided.” That’s what most kids do at this stage. Your student can change it after they know which college they’ll be attending.
Well, despite the fact that S19 worked ahead on his portion and his LOR was done in ample time, his school has yet to hit submit. GC leaves for conference today and it is unclear if GC will even be at the HS today. S19 went to GC yesterday to inquire about status and GC had him sit in the office while the school portion was done. GC had one question that GC wanted to double-check with NMSC regarding appropriate answer and assured S19 that the app would be submitted as soon as that question was answered. S19 checked last night and NMSC portal shows his schools portion is not submitted. Of course S19 is now very anxious. We both like the GC a lot and trust GC’s judgement, etc and recognize the amount of work that public school GC’s are given but this is just causing all of the stress to boil over here.
I plan to call NMSC first thing this morning. Although he emailed last night, S19 also plans to try to track down GC if they are at HS this morning before conference. I have advised him to then go to the principal first thing if GC is NOT here today to see if the principal can take care of it. S19’s has a faculty member that has also offered to help advocate for him with this type of stuff (there have been other college application delays).
S19 works so incredibly hard and always works ahead to avoid last minute submissions and the problems they create. I really feel for him. I do think it will all work out but find all of this unnecessarily stressful.
@mountainmomof3 NM can tell when the student submits their portion and will likely tell you that it will be ok if the school submits their portion tomorrow (late). But, I’d encourage you to get that info directly from them since they are very nice over the phone and reassuring.
Good luck to your S! I agree the school shouldn’t make it this stressful!
@mountainmomof3 I can empathize with you! We received an email from our D’s GC saying she had submitted everything - woohoo! When I called NMSC to verify, I found out that the school’s portion was completed, BUT that the school administrator still needed to “hit the final transmit button”. I think confusion comes in when the GC is not also the school administrator. In our case another GC is listed as the school administrator - NMSC was able to tell me the listed name - so I could follow up with her. All is finalized now, thankfully. In my experience, NMSC is incredibly helpful and understanding. I hope you were able to get your questions answered this morning when you called. I understand the school needing to involved in this process, but it is stressful to not have any control over them doing what they need to in a timely manner - and if this process isn’t something the HS goes through on a regular basis, that can add to the confusion. Hang in there!!
@Reebtoor @WImom94 thank you both for the supportive words. Had reassurance from NMSC this morning and then GC saw S19’s email and took care of it. I knew it would work out but given the time frame needed to be ready to proceed if it hadn’t which has raised my and my husband’s stress level through the roof. I did double check with NMSC that absolutely everything was done which has helped calm us down. Whew! Never a dull moment senior year!
Is anyone going to that November event that UCF is hosting for the Semifinalists?
Son and I are planning to. I’m looking for flights out there
@FrozenMaineMom - we can’t make due to a conflict but we are visiting UCF on 11/6. Sorry to miss out!
I’m actually not going to the November event at UCF but, assuming it is first choice for my daughter in the spring still, will go to the one they host for finalists in March. If anyone goes to the November one I would love to hear about it after 
On another note, is anyone else surprised at how few parents are on this forum given the fact that there are 16,000 NMSemifinalists out there? Maybe, unlike me, they all already know what they are doing and do not need the help or advice? Or maybe they just do not know about CC? I learned a lot last year when my daughter was only a junior by reading all of the National Merit posts on the 2018 string but maybe it is still too early for parents this year to be obsessing over things as I tend to do
@FrozenMaineMom - I know some are on this forum but are not applying to NMF schools so making NMF probably isn’t a huge deal to them? Of course, I am somewhat obsessive myself so CC is where I get it out of my system to limit annoying those around me! 
@FrozenMaineMom a few points, first there are a lot of lurkers out there:-) , second many of the kids that make NM have their sites set on tippy top schools where just about everyone isn NM so it’s no big deal and no $$ and of course there are many that don’t know or care about CC so that leaves us:-)
I found CC the summer before my DD16 was in 8th grade. I was searching for info on the PSAT because it was one testing option to get into the out of district high school she wanted to attend. Almost every time I Googled it I ended up on a NM thread at CC. College was the farthest thing from my mind at the time I just wanted to get her into a good high school! The more I read the more I started to freak out about the the price of a college education. I always figured smart kids would get good scholarship to good schools, the smarter the kid the better the scholarship to the best schools.
I had no idea about merit vs. need and that the tippy top schools offer no merit scholarships. At the same time I had a friend with an amazing older D, she was Val of her very competitive high school, built a play ground at an orphanage in Hatti, tons a leadership, truly one of the most incredible young women I’ve ever known. She applied to many of the tippy top schools and got into every one but none of them gave her enough $$ to make it workable and her parents are a similar economic level as we are. It was truly an eye opening experience for me!
National Merit is the golden ticket for my kids. Thankfully my oldest (high school class of 16) fell in love with OU and she wanted to study meteorology and they have one of the top programs in the country and she was able to go when they still offered a very generous NM scholarship. My youngest (DS20) went to summer computer camp at UTD and feel in love with it and talked my middle son into checking it out. DS18 was wowed by the opportunities UTD offered and the NM full ride and so far is very happy with his choice. Now I’m just waiting for DS20 to get his scores to see if he make NM too. In any case he still plans to attend UTD.
I still follow these treads because what one school offers for NM can influence another as the NM packages change a bit each year and I like to know what people think about the different schools and programs.
Yes, I forget that some parents can actually afford to send their kids to those tippy top schools and are not looking for that full ride opportunity that I am! That makes sense why there may not be that many on these forums. As you said, for us too, this National Merit opportunity IS the golden ticket and I am so grateful that my daughter will be able to do undergrad for free since I am certain more schooling beyond that is in her future…