<p>Hi I barely made the semifinalist cutoff (217 for texas) and was just wondering how they determine who becomes a finalist. I filled out that application last fall but don't know if that has any bearing on my possibilities of advancement. Any help would be appreciated</p>
<p>Go here: <a href="http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf</a>
Though there are a number of requirements set out, the main one is to take the SAT and score very high on it.</p>
<p>Letters will be mailed on February 8th notifying finalists and yes, the application does matter (along with SAT scores and school recommendations).</p>
<p>It doesn't matter that much, but you can get thrown out. 90% advance, so I wouldn't sweat it.</p>
<p>More than 90% - it's something like 15,000/16,000 so nearly 94%.</p>
<p>Basically, fill out the application, don't commit a felony and don't flunk all your classes. Not too hard.</p>
<p>Hi guys,</p>
<p>What happens if you score really high on the PSAT as a sophomore (e.g. 232)? Do you get any scholarships or anything like that? Thanks.</p>
<p>Cooljoe, in the fall you should be receiving a lot of mail from the colleges which do provide big NMF scholarships - Arizona State, University of Oklahoma, various colleges in Louisiana and Mississippi, UT Dallas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Houston. You are eligible for the scholarships if you are named finalist and are accepted at the college.</p>
<p>Are there any elite universities like Harvard or Princeton that offer full-ride scholarships in general (not just thru NMSC)? If so, how do you apply for these scholarships? Thanks, fireflyscout.</p>
<p>
All Ivies are need-based only and give absolutely no merit scholariships. ANd if you're a sophomore, you need to retake it as a junior to be eligible for NMSF/NMF. However, you should have no trouble if you got a 232 this year. Basically, getting NMF will earn you about $2500 in national merit scholarships and depending on where you want to go, perhaps more scholarships. Unfortunately, the Ivies/other reeeally good schools have so many people that are NMF that it isn't a big deal for them. It won't help you much if you have it, but it will probably hurt you a little if you don't.</p>
<p>I wouldn't think it matters much at all if you get NMF at HYPSM. If you have decent SAT scores (at least 2100+), it'd mean about the same thing.</p>
<p>Thank God. I did really well on the SAT (2300) but took the PSAT a week later and barely missed the MA cutoff (219, the cutoff is 223). I'm really happy about my SAT score but really mad about my PSAT score, especially since I did better (221) last year as a sophomore.</p>
<p>Thanks guys.</p>
<p>By the way, I am not a sophomore right now, I am a freshman that just took a practice test and got a 232 on it. Sorry if I was a bit misleading in my first post.</p>
<p>You're a freshman?!?!?! With a 232?!?!?! I'm a junior and I got mid-220s. <em>feels really stupid now</em></p>
<p>Well, good job though!</p>
<p>NMSF doesn't do much outside of look good to average schools. You get a bunch of scholarship money from various state schools (A. State - 84,000. Oklahoma- 74,000). To the ivies these people are a dime a dozen.</p>