From National Merit Semifinalist to Finalist?

Paying for College National Merit Aid
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<p>Post # 828 from the thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/696125-psat-scores-national-merit-semifinalists-2009-h-s-class-2010-a-21.html#post1063225946[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/696125-psat-scores-national-merit-semifinalists-2009-h-s-class-2010-a-21.html#post1063225946&lt;/a&gt;

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<p>I don’t think the minimum needed SAT score changes from state to state. I think it’s the same across the nation. </p>

<p>I think the SAT cut-off is related to the lowest PSAT cutoff. </p>

<p>I think the lowest(or one of the lowest) PSAT cut-off is Puerto Rico’s cutoff.</p>

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<p>This was the one I was talking about. I THOUGHT it said 1950…but I’d also heard 1960 so wasn’t sure. This is from “Barfly”, posted 8/29/09. Of course we don’t know this is true, but y’all don’t have long to wait anyway. Besides, you pretty much all know now, since you haven’t gotten “the letter”. It’s funny that so many smart kids are having so much trouble with Feb 2 mailed to principal, Feb 9 mailed to home. I bet that question has been asked 1000 times in these 2-3 active threads. Just anxious I guess. Luck</p>

<p>"MaryTN, I talked to the National Merit office last spring about what score would be needed on the SAT to advance. The reason I called them was because my son’s PSAT was above last year’s cutoff, but his SAT was below the predicted score. That National Merit office told me: last year’s Texas PSAT cutoff score was 215 and then she told me the SAT cutoff. I think what she said was to take the PSAT cutoff, subtact 20 and multiply by 10. (I didn’t write it down because I figured my son was probably safe). So a 215 state cutoff would require a 1950 on the SAT. And she said there would be time to retake the SAT after receiving the semifinalist packet. "</p>

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<p>I was told the SAT minimum was “typically 1950” by the NM office at a university that offers a good scholarship for finalists.</p>

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<p>So does GPA really does matter? and how much? I have a comparatively low GPA for the NMSC program (around 3.0). But I go to a pretty competitive high school that’s nationally ranked.
I got 219 PSAT and 2300 SAT. I have decent extracurriculars (Academic Decathlon Captain, a few club board positions) and I’m a pretty good essay writer, so hopefully my essay shines Do I have a shot, you think? </p>

<p>(National competitions like these shouldn’t be based on such a relative thing like GPA, in my opinion)</p>

<p>I really hope I get it because USC (my dream school) offers a half tuition scholarship to all NMSC finalists</p>

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<p>Hi, quick question. It’s probably pretty obvious, oh well.
My PSAT is DISMALLY low. It’s the cutoff for my state, and my state has one of the lowest cutoffs. So, my question is this… will it be considered the finalist round? If I have a perfect GPA and do fairly well on the SAT, can my low PSAT keep me from becoming a finalist, or is PSAT not even considered past the semi-finalist round?</p>

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<p>The College Board has STEPS they publish on their site for the National Merit process. It seems to be on automatic pilot from my first read through. However, the Princeton Review and prior posts on this thread indicate a more proactive series of events including sending in SAT scores to the CollegeBoard and having letters of recommendations from teachers and an essay. It would be great to have clarification on that along with dates. Any takers?</p>

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<p>The Princeton Review is correct.
Are you/your child a national merit semi-finalist? National merit information has been sent out to schools. If you are a semi-finalist, your school should have notified you, and you would have been given a packet detailing all the steps you must take to apply to become a finalist. You can check the score cutoffs being posted around the board, if your scores are greater or equal to the cutoff, you are a semi-finalist. If you are, you need to find out why you haven’t been given your packet as you’ll need that ASAP.
If you’re just curious, here’s what you’ve got to do from semi-finalist to finalist.
Get a teacher/school official to write a recommendation. (They will also fill out a form that assesses the rigor of your school, your own curriculum, etc.)
Write a short essay (around 500 words)
Take the SAT and send scores to national merit. </p>

<p>Hope I was helpful! (And accurate. I haven’t read through my packet entirely yet, haha.)</p>

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<p>And for those in a sweat - give your school some time. Some schools have definitely not yet handed out the packets. Heck, some schools haven’t even started. My child’s school started on Wed, and they have been quite busy. I know there are several NMSFs and I’m sure they will get their packets in plenty of time.</p>

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<p>Seriously, does anyone know about the minimum GPA?</p>

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<p>aleader, don’t worry. The PSAT score is used ONLY for the first cut – i.e., choosing commended students and semifinalists. After that, it’s never looked at again by the folks at NMSC.</p>

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<p>this link shows the necessary PSAT results by state for qualification:[National</a> Merit Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.collegeplanningsimplified.com/NationalMerit.html]National”>http://www.collegeplanningsimplified.com/NationalMerit.html)</p>

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<p>*Hi, quick question. It’s probably pretty obvious, oh well.
My PSAT is DISMALLY low. It’s the cutoff for my state, and my state has one of the lowest cutoffs. So, my question is this… will it be considered the finalist round? If I have a perfect GPA and do fairly well on the SAT, can my low PSAT keep me from becoming a finalist, or is PSAT not even considered past the semi-finalist round? *</p>

<p>You’re fine. Once you make NMSF, your PSAT score doesn’t matter. </p>

<p>As long as you meet the other req’ts…good GPA, good SAT (about 1950+) and send score to NMCorp, you aren’t a discipline problem, and do the paperwork on time, you’ll make NMF.</p>

<p>Don’t worry about your PSAT score once you make NMSF.</p>

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<p>^^^^ mlkphd… that link only goes up to class of 2010, this thread is for class of 2011 cut-offs.</p>

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<p>As mom2collegekids put it, it does not matter if you meet the cut off by being on the cut off (which could be as low as about 201 in WY last year), or beat it by a large margin. If you make the cut off for your state you are in. Most college scholarships are based on other criteria and they do not even know your PSAT scores, so you could get scholarships given by colleges if you meet the colleges criteria and your PSAT scores will not matter at all.</p>

<p>That leaves the NMSC’s own scholarships and corporate scholarships (if you are eligible for a corporate scholarship). As again NMSC scholarships are on state proportinate basis, a low PSAT score will not exclude you from consideration. Corporate scholarships will depend on other criteria, and again your PSAT score may not matter. I have heard that many corproate scholarships are not awarded as many do not meet the criteria and hence in many cases the corproation gives a special scholarship.</p>

<p>Hence as m2ck says don’t worry, as long as you made the cut off</p>

<p>here is the link for 2011 cut offs</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/986427-cut-off-scores-semi-finalist-announcements-24.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/986427-cut-off-scores-semi-finalist-announcements-24.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;