How do SF become Finalists?

Paying for College National Merit Aid
1

<p>So, I barely made the cutoff for California and am a semifinalist. I'm a little nervous, though, about submitting my online application. Hopefully the answers to these questions will assuage my fears :p</p>

<p>Anyway, I've heard that 15,000 of the 16,000 semifinalists become finalists. Is this true? I wasn't able to find any definitive numbers on the NMS website, unfortunately. </p>

<p>I saw on another thread (<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/994755-sat-score-needed-confirm-psat.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/994755-sat-score-needed-confirm-psat.html&lt;/a&gt;) that the NMS committee also uses a national SAT score cutoff (1960 this year) to determine whether you move on to Finalist status or not. </p>

<p>Are there any other criteria to determine one's advancement to F status? My friend (who is also a semifinalist) told me that the NMS committee basically checks to make sure "you're not an idiot" before they move you to finalist status. </p>

<p>Thanks for any help!</p>

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<p>Hi…congrats…</p>

<p>here’s a copy of a previous post of mine that kind of spells it all out…</p>

<p>To go from NMSF to NMF…</p>

<p>1) keep your nose clean at school - you need the recommendation</p>

<p>2) Take the SAT by Dec and have score sent to NMCorp - code 0085
(Typically a score over 2000 is considered good enough .)</p>

<p>3) Receive the NMSF paperwork in September. Follow all the directions, write a nice essay, and return paperwork to school before the due date.</p>

<p>4) Check with school to make sure paperwork is submitted on time to NMCorp.</p>

<p>5) Keep your GPA strong at school; the school sends your transcript to NMCorp with your paperwork.</p>

<p>6) Don’t fret about picking #1 choice for college. That can be decided in late winter/early spring - depending on school’s deadline.</p>

<p>The kids who don’t make NMF after being named NMSF typically cause that to happen by…</p>

<p>1) bad behavior at school</p>

<p>2) poor academic performance (GPA issues)</p>

<p>3) didn’t do the paperwork, did it incorrectly, or submitted it too late.</p>

<p>4) wrote a rude/poor essay.</p>

<p>5) didn’t take the SAT, didn’t send score to NMCorp, and/or didn’t have a good SAT score (typically a score over 2000 is considered “safe.”)</p>

<p>If you receive a rejection letter stating that you didn’t make NMF, you can appeal. Some appeals have been successful.</p>

<p>Any questions…feel free to call NMCorp - they’re very nice on the phone.</p>

<p>Nat’l Merit Corp 847-866-5100</p>