<p>My guidance counselor has never heard of a top scorer letter. In fact, he seems to know NOTHING about the National Merit process. Now I am worried he will drop the ball to the point where I lose out if I do make anything. He even thinks the teachers are responsible for everything in the entire process. I emailed him back and included a link to the NM process chart. I tried to explain that this is something that is supposed to go through the guidance counselor. I have not heard back from him.</p>
<p>This is his first year as a high school counselor. What should I do? He is a nice guy, he just has no idea about, well, anything, when it comes to what he should be doing.</p>
<p>Don’t worry, nothing can be done now anyway… Just make sure that there isn’t an asterisk next to your total PSAT score (Your Selection Index)… no asterisk means you are eligible to continue in the competition… If you are 203 or higher, rest assured, you will at least be commended. In September, if you do not meet the NMSF state threshold, you will receive a commended certificate… Otherwise you will be a NMSF, and have to deal with the details of trying to become a finalist and need the GC/Principal to work with you… No need to stress about this now!</p>
<p>We are in a similar situation. I emailed D’s GC yesterday to confirm the top scorer letter and see if they communicate next steps, if there are any. She said that yes, D is top scorer and all further action, if any, is communicated from NMSC to parents/students in the fall. My D should qualify for NMSF - 216 in MI - so I signed her up for the June SAT because I know our fall is going to be busy with college dance program auditions. Just assume the ball is in your court.</p>
<p>If you make NMSF, as you know, GC will have work to do. At some schools the GC may delegate some of that work to teachers, but GC is in charge of things. So you will have to help him learn his job and work through the process with you. Meanwhile, the only things you might want to take care of are 1) Get an SAT score high enough for NMF. I know 2000 is def. high enough, but a bit lower is probably OK, maybe 1960(?) calculated w/0 the effects of the essay, just the multiple choice subscore of writing scaled up to 800. If you make NMSF, need to have college board send NMSC that score. 2)Don’t get any C’s. Making NMF doesn’t require a 4.0, but NMSC frowns on C’s and even 1 or 2 may be too many. You can scroll through old reports from past years to see people’s experiences with this.</p>
<p>It’s worth keeping track of. My D was right on the score edge, but we threw NMF scholarships schools into the mix just in case. She ended up making NMF and turns out will be attending one with a big scholarship, though those schools were all just safeties to begin with. There is a huge sense of relief that comes from having these automatic fallbacks in the bag early senior year, even if you hope to attend a higher ranked school. Good luck!</p>
<p>Oh, and Texas A&M and UOklahoma both have these large scholarships. A&M has extra money thrown in for engineering students in case you are interested.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would stop by for a nice chat. Tell him this could mean a hundred thousand dollars or more to you, and glory to your school.</p>
<p>Do convince him to track down the “top scorer” letter. You want to establish whether it is going to him, someone else, or no one. If he can’t find it, he needs to contact NMerit to make sure future info comes to him. Let him know that when the NMSF result is announced to him in late August, it is important he notify you right away. You want to do your part and shepherd the process to make sure it all gets taken care of.</p>