I was a national merit semifinalist this year and applied REA. GPA was weighted 3.975 (school only goes up to 4.00 with A in AP/AC classes) and my SAT was a 1540. Will being a National Merit Semifinalist help for Notre Dame? I assume it provides a boost for all colleges but while other top colleges I’m not interested in (UChicago, Oklahoma, others), keep sending me congratulatory mail on being a Semifinalist, I can find no real stats on ND’s website about NMSF when it comes to admission besides a few articles about incoming freshman classes from the past that mentioned some NMSF’s that were admitted. Anyone know a bit more than I do about how being a Semifinalist will impact my chances for REA with the stats I have?
Being a Semifinalist will not matter. They likely post the number of Finalists they enroll.
@TomSrOfBoston NMSF is the only honor I was able to put on the application. Finalists aren’t announced until much later this year. Therefore, all colleges are sending congratulations and such for being a semifinalist. I would assume Notre Dame also looks for NMSF status on applications since nobody can apply REA and know if they’re a finalist yet.
It’s certainly a nice thing and worth listing, but your GPA, SAT score and rigor of high school course load will matter far more. Because the NMS varies by state (with “more competitive” states having higher qualifying scores) the schools know that a score of, for example, 200, would get you into the semi-finals if you lived in one state, but not in another. In other words, students who live in more competitive states are at a disadvantage, if they receive the same score as someone is a less competitive state. You have great stats without that, it would not be a make or break for you. Good luck!