Initially I thought that the PSAT was mandatory for national merit consideration. However, a boy at my schools says that he became semi finalist by only using his SAT score, and our school is recognizing him. How is this possible?
In very limited circumstances, if a person was unable to sit for the PSAT, such as hospitalization, death of a family member or some documented reason of significance, the student can request an opportunity to have their SAT score considered and if it high enough, they will grant the request.
@Knawledge4Cawllege Here is the exact text from the PSAT student guide:
If you do not take the 2016 PSAT/NMSQT because of
illness, an emergency, or other extenuating circumstance,
you may still be able to enter the 2018 National Merit
Scholarship Program. To request information about
another route of entry after the Fall 2016 PSAT/NMSQT
administration, write to NMSC as soon as possible but
no later than March 1, 2017. Please include your home
mailing address. Do not delay; the earlier you write, the
more options you will have for scheduling test dates.
If the boy did not have those extenuating circumstances then he is lying.
OP did say “and our school is recognizing him” which means maybe he received his certificate today? @Knawledge4Cawllege did your school hand out the finalist certificates today or acknowledge him as a NMSF? Or is this just what this student is saying? Some areas posted the names of NMSF in the local newspapers. I believe NMC will list the names of all finalists in about a month. Finalist notifications were being mailed out to the schools this past Monday.
Wow thank you for all the quick replies. As far as I know, the boy has none of those circumstances at all. Additionally, he was recognized back in fall along with me and one other semi finalist. It also seems odd that the local newspaper did not mention him, but our school did.
And our school has not told anybody about finalist distinction yet.
Did your local newspaper recognize you?
Yes it did. It recognized me and one other semifinalist, but not him.
Is this boy the son of a teacher or the school principal? LOL Something is fishy here.
It does seem a lil odd. Aw well, doesn’t affect me, I’m just curious. Thank you for helping out!
All will be known soon enough when the school recognizes the finalists later this week or next. Good luck!