Back to the order of letters, scholarships, etc. My D is a NMSF, was invite to and attended one of the recruiting dinners (Dallas), but didn’t receive the early HC acceptance letter in Dec. She did get general acceptance and the vague scholarship letter. We are OOS, homeschool, good scores and GPA, no class rank, of course! She also had good essays, we felt, plays piano, teaches karate (2nd degree black belt), team captain for soccer, etc. USC was her first choice (marine science), but she needs the scholarships to go, so was very disappointed not to get HC in Dec., since that seems to indicate she didn’t make the first cut for Horshoe/McNair.
My d is a sophomore in the honors college. She missed NMSF by one point and was not invited to the dinner or McNair. She had a friend that had a lower PSAT and ACT and is a McNair (didn’t get McNair at first but ended up getting it at the last minute). My daughters friend had some very unique circumstances in her life that I am sure she was able to write great essays about - my daughter just didn’t have these same circumstances - really nothing either girl did right or wrong. I also think the “dinner” is based on the high schools invite (only can invite a couple) so I am not sure if homeschooled kids get invited.