<p>I was notified by my child's guidance counselor last week that he made the cutoff for National Merit. The principal still hasn't told him, and I don't want to ruin the "surprise," but doesn't he have the chance to let colleges know? I don't want to be the parent who everyone dreads hearing from, but at what point do I ask the school to let him know?</p>
<p>Don’t worry - he will have plenty of time. I am sure the school will give all the info by the end of the school year.</p>
<p>you mean he made semifinalist? He’s a junior now, right?</p>
<p>The colleges will all find out in due time. I forget the exact process, but there is one, I think its on NM corps web site. Waiting a couple of days for the principal won’t matter, I think. The colleges just need to know when he submits his app, which is not till the fall at the earliest. Unless you wanted to be bombarded by junk mail ASAP.</p>
<p>We never found out about the commended (what they’re notifying about now) status. At least us parents didn’t know. We got a letter in fall for NMSF, that’s what the schools IMO actually care about. D was a NMS and never did put any colleges down during the spring of junior year round.</p>
<p>The cutoff for National Merit finalist isn’t announced or determined until winter of senior year. During spring of junior year, students learn if they are in the top 50,000 juniors on the PSAT. That means they’ll be either National Merit semifinalists (the majority of whom eventually will be named finalists – after they submit some documentation that their schools will give them in Sept. or Oct.) or or commended.</p>
<p>The lists for the top 50,000 students, semifinalists and finalists are made available to colleges.</p>
<p>In addition, as one of the top 50,000 students, your S will get paperwork to let 2 colleges know about his status. It’s highly recommended that he use that to inform schools that he might apply to that care about demonstrated interest or may give merit aid. </p>
<p>It’s a waste of time to send the scores to places like HPYS, which know that they are top choices of students who are NM scholars, and consequently don’t care about demonstrated interest. Those schools also don’t give merit aid.</p>
<p>If your son knows his scores, it is pretty easy to determine where his scores will place him as far as semi-finalist or commended; there is always a fairly accurate list on here. The very first time I found College Confidential was in searching for NM information.</p>
<p>Depending on his scores, one might have a very good idea of whether he’ll be a semifinalist or commended, but the cutoffs do change every year. Official notice of semifinalist status will be in about Sept.</p>
<p>College4Three: There’s a lot of information about National Merit this forum: [National</a> Merit Scholarships - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/]National”>National Merit Scholarships - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>It was a huge money saver for us during my D’s journey to NMF.
Good luck!</p>
<p>The letter the kids got a couple weeks ago announcing they made the initial cut (along with 50,000 others) gave them an ID#, a password and a web address valid until 5/25 to alert any colleges of their score.</p>
<p>I thought the cutoffs will not be announced until September of 2010. Am I missing something?</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I know that my son won’t advance with his score, so Commended is where the competition ends for him. Still, a nice accomplishment and something to make him feel good about (because he is SURE that he is not getting into any of his top choice colleges). Not interested in HYP, so that’s not an issue.</p>
<p>I am more concerned with the 5/25 deadline. This is his chance to demonstrate interest!
We never got a letter home. Apparently his info is in the hands of the principal.
Maybe by next week, I’ll pick up the phone and try to move things along.</p>
<p>borgbege - I was talking about the initial 50,000 kids who at least made the cut off for commended. You are correct that the semi’s list will not be communicated until fall - all 50,000 kids get a chance to send their scores.</p>
<p>college4three - here is the website that the kids have to log on to. Maybe it will offer you some advice for a “lost” ID and password. collegeplans.org</p>