Same here. Alabama or Texas Tech if my son is a NMF. He could get into an “elite” college, but we never could afford it. So for us, making NMF is just about him going to college and getting out without student loans.
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McElroy has confirmed 215 for the Ohio cutoff for a few days now. Art is still saying <=215. I can now confirm that 213 did not make NMSF in Ohio.
I have a 1480 and my index is 223
Fwiw, McElroy has “confirmed” scores previously and then changed them. It seems he’s just parroting what he sees here, Reddit, and elsewhere.
Also fwiw, he’s ‘skypetutor’ discussed above, and was banned from Reddit. Reddit - Dive into anything
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Disagree. Skypetutor simply shared info that was previously mostly known only to insiders who could afford fancy test prep.
I could not disagree more. He told people, even if they could sit for the PSAT, to use AE because it was easier to qualify as a NMSF. That is abuse of the system. AE was designed to help those who could not take the PSAT. It was not meant as an easier way to qualify. And as we will likely see next week, several qualified students who sat for the PSAT will be bumped from NMSF designation because people abused the system. It’s not right.
My daughter had a 1580 on her SAT (prior to sitting for the PSAT). She could have skipped the PSAT and used her SAT score, but she knew that was not right. Instead, she sat for the PSAT and still qualified as a NMSF. There are many other students like my daughter. They had qualifying NMSF AE scores prior to sitting for the PSAT, but they sat for the PSAT anyway. The AE abuse promoted by skypetutor will leave many of these kids on the outside looking in. It’s not ethical.
And from a business perspective, it is really not a good look. I would never consider hiring someone who abuses the rules.
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I could not disagree more. He told people, even if they could sit for the PSAT, to use AE because it was easier to qualify as a NMSF. That is abuse of the system. AE was designed to help those who could not take the PSAT. It was not meant as an easier way to qualify. And as we will likely see next week, several qualified students who sat for the PSAT will be bumped from NMSF designation because people abused the system. It’s not right.
My daughter had a 1580 on her SAT (prior to sitting for the PSAT). She could have skipped the PSAT and used her SAT score, but she knew that was not right. Instead, she sat for the PSAT and still qualified as a NMSF. There are many other students like my daughter. They had qualifying NMSF AE scores prior to sitting for the PSAT, but they sat for the PSAT anyway. The AE abuse promoted by skypetutor will leave many of these kids on the outside looking in. It’s unethical.
From a business perspective, it is not a good look. I would never hire someone who promotes system abuse.
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Yes, I can see how intentionally not sitting could be abusive. Because schools were all closed and no tests were offered near me in the Fall, I just was looking at it from a different perspective. We were hunkered down through Feb. trying to keep the grandparents alive. Vaccinations gave me my life back.
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To be frank, some of the blame falls on the NMSC as well. Even though they didn’t actively encourage kids to take the SAT in lieu of the PSAT, particularly this year the system allowed just about anyone, not only those with actual extenuating circumstances, to elude the big scary PSAT.
According to the NMSC website, it is possible to qualify for the NMSQT even if you miss your scheduled PSAT administration, by writing to the NMSC and asking to instead take the SAT as your NMSQT make-up test.
All you have to do is miss the PSAT, even for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I don’t think this bears further explanation
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Absolutely. I don’t disagree with you at all. NMSC allowed the AE abuse, and I hope that is fixed going forward. AE was advertised as a loophole this year, and unless it is addressed going forward, it will continue to be exploited by opportunists.
My gripe with Skypetutor is not that he shared the details of AE but rather that he promoted abusing it. And I agree, NMSC should have clamped down on the abuse - reviewing and approving the reasons for a PSAT waiver. The use of AE was understandably up considerably this year, but it didn’t have to turn into what it ultimately became.
ETA - And to your final point, that is exactly what happened. Students intentionally skipped valid PSAT administrations to use the more favorable AE route.
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which completely defeats the point of national merit, i.e. to ensure that everyone sits for the exam only once.
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The blame also needs to be laid at the parents feet for those that gamed the system. Like Dis3456, my kid had a 1570 coming out of the August 2020 SAT. Three of his peers that had similar scores decided to be “sick” the day of the PSAT so they could do AE. What parents encourage their kids to do that? What does that teach them?
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There is much blame to go around (not only the parents but the students too). I didn’t mean to imply that Skypetutor was solely to blame, but he definitely played a role. What saddens me the most is that the honest kids and/or the students without access to available resources were the ones hurt by what transpired this year. By not abusing the system, they put themselves at a disadvantage. I truly hope that NMSC fixes this going forward.
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219 has made it in Illinois.
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@Dis3456 - best of luck to your daughter. My twins were both NMF. One is at ASU with 100% tuition courtesy of NMF. The other is at Notre Dame and has great financial aid, but not related to his status as NMF.
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Questions for the ones who have been officially notified already.
-
Is the essay prompt the same as previous years?
“To help the reviewers get to know you, describe an experience you have had, a person who has influenced you, or an obstacle you have overcome. Explain why this is meaningful to you. Use your own words and limit your response to the space provided.” -
When is the deadline to submit all the paperwork?
Thanks in advance!
Yes, the prompt is the same. The deadline is October 6.
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Thanks a lot, @mathKids !
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My son had almost a perfect SAT score early in HS and I don’t understand the hoopla around an PSAT test like it is somehow more indicative of scholarship than the actual exam. Super strange to me- I feel like its from an era when kids didn’t take SATs until they were seniors.
I didn’t know about AE but I find the distinction/concern odd. Are schools really more impressed with a PSAT scores than SAT scores? Is NMSF adding a ton to the app if you have a 1570 SAT? To me, it’s redundant. Schools can see if the tests were super-scored or not.
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For many, it isn’t really about the distinction, it’s about the extra merit scholarships and perks that are available to NMSF.
@Dis3456 I agree with everything you said regarding AE. At the very least NMSC should have asked for ALL SAT tests and based the decision on a test taken the closest to the PSAT date.
S22 qualified via PSAT with a high enough selection index that we didn’t have to worry, but like many others, he would have had a perfect SAT index had he used his Sept SAT.
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