Congrats, MAmomto4! Thank you for sharing that news!! Knowing that number, is there a good guess what the “confirming” score (SAT/ACT) would be this year?
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The confirming score SAT score would be the same as the index cut off for commended of 207.
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I got the same letter!
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Just wondering if anyone has info about kids in high cut off states having any way to get the NMF scholarships at schools like tulsa and fordham if they just miss the cutoff. S24 had a 222 and this year our state cutoff was 223. Fordham is actually on his list, Skidmore has a small NMF scholarship and we could go look at Tulsa if it would be free.
I don’t know of anything like this, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask the individual schools. In the meantime, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the cutoff in your state will go down to 222. What a pain to be in such a high cutoff state!
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I hate to be bitter but it seems such a weird thing. I understand the need to spread it around and have equity between. The states but to have a 16 point spread seems unfair
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Well, the “need” to spread it around is really just a marketing need. The ACT is dominant in the Midwest, so I think the National Merit game is mainly a way to keep the SAT/PSAT company’s foot in the door in those states. It isn’t fair, but it sure is good marketing. Who ever would have watched Miss America if it were marketed as the 50 prettiest young women from anywhere in the United States instead of the prettiest one from each state?
If that is something your are interest in, maybe take a look at U So Carolina. They are known to give extremely generous merit awards to high stat students from the NE. I am sure it’s not exclusive to the NE but it appears to be in an effort to improve geographic diversity while also strengthening the academic profile of the student body.
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@PresCarsonTulsa can you provide any information regarding Tulsa scholarships for high stats kids who just miss the NM cut off in their state?
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So the NMSF program is, alas, just for those who make the cut-off. I do realize this can be unfair, as some states do have much higher cut-offs than other. I don’t know an easy way around this, but we do offer the Presidential Scholarship for top academic performers. It, too, is a full-ride scholarship. So the Presidential is the option for our many students who are strong performers (several have 35-36 ACTs) but who missed out on the NMSF.
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Thought I’d add an update to this thread. We will have 160 NMSFs this year at the University of Tulsa. It is 25% of the freshmen class.
And we won’t disappoint. This was just published today, in the Wall Street Journal. TU at #12, in amazing company:
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I imagine your faculty is pretty excited to be teaching this group of very bright students. Congrats!
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Should alternate entry students who qualify as NMSFs or commended students be included on the list sent to principals in the past few weeks? Thank you.
Edit - They will not be on the list. Just called NMSC to confirm.
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Thank you for responding! We shall see what the cut off is for NJ this year. My S24 would def consider U Tulsa and we will look into the presidential Scholarship. I have to look if the school offers music scholarships also, he will be in touch with the music department to investigate those opportunities.
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Do you know how alternate entry students will find out? Does NMSC send another list later that includes the alternate entry students?
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I think it must. My kid was an alternate entry during the height of Covid, but his school principal informed him at the regular time (early Sept of his senior year.)
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I did not know until this afternoon. NMSC will send the “final” list to the school principals in September, and that will include all of the qualifying students. This list did not include those who qualify via AE because some of the entrants have not submitted an SAT score and/or the signed entry form. For that reason, this list is based solely off PSAT scores.
ETA - NMSC did confirm that they have received my child’s information and that he will be on the final list in September. My heart kind of skipped a beat when we found out he wasn’t on the recent list. I wanted to confirm it was due to being an AE qualifier and not because we missed a step.
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Thank you for the information. So I can call NMSC and straight out ask if my son will qualify through AE given his selection index?
Just to clarify, the final list includes both commended students and NMSFs. The commended cutoff has been announced at 207 so I think that they could confirm if your student is above that. I simply asked if my child, who was entering through AE, should have been on the school’s list that went out a few weeks ago. The rep looked up my son’s information and confirmed that he would be on September’s list. Based on my son’s SSI, I feel very comfortable with him being named a NMSF, but NMSC did not give any indication of NMSF vs. commended. I hope that helps, and I am sorry for the confusion.
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Yes, we offer music scholarships too. Auditions required there. But a great music program.
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