<p>Im just wondering about the importance of the PSAT. I'm currently a junior, but after taking todays PSAT I'm feeling really sad =[ Usually im a very strong student, but today, I just dont know what happened. I already know I got 1 verbal and 2 math wrong. Could someone explain the importance of this test? How important is it to get the national merit scholar?</p>
<p>If you did not do that well, don't kill yourself. It's a no loose test. You take it to see how you will do on the real thing. As for the national merit awards, they're good if you have them but if you end up not getting them it will not impair admissions chances next year.</p>
<p>missing 3 questions is not catastrophic, your score will still be great. the test is important in two ways: a) figuring out about how well you'll do on the SAT so you know how much you need to prepare b)national merit. national merit itself is not that much money, but its a prestige thing that can help your college applications. at some schools, merit scholars get the money from the govt (like $1k or $2k per year of college) in addition to as much as 1/2 tuition scholarships sponsored by their university.</p>
<p>is the national merit a big thing to have on the application?</p>
<p>yeah, i think it is.</p>
<p>USC (uni of socal) gives u automatic enterence and 1/2 tuition if you have decent grades and have national merit...</p>
<p>so yeah its a big thing</p>
<p>But if it's only avaliable to Juniors, but the results come out in January of senior year after the apps, how would one go about reporting it?</p>
<p>most people that get semi get finalist -> so it's assumed that you will get it</p>
<p>i heard that the national merit thing isn't that big of a deal. some people get scholarship money which is great but other than that it's no biggie. as far as getting an automatic entrance to usc, i think that's just not true. my older brother was a finalist and he said that he doesn't remember even reporting it to his colleges. SATs are what really matter.</p>
<p>National merit does help get you noticed. The rest is up to you (essays/interviews). My son ended up with a full tuition scholarship at washu and I know this helped. At many schools, it gives you automatic money. It is nothing to sneeze at. It is also amazingly accurate at predicting your SAT score.</p>
<p>Top 16,000 high school students in the nation are national merit semifinalists, and then top 15,000 are finalists, so yeah it is a big deal</p>
<p>Colleges like bragging about how many finalists they have, so if you get it, you'll get scholarship opportunities from colleges that you may not have even considered before (that you may or may not want to consider afterwards)...</p>
<p>national merit can get you full tuition at a lot of school if you list them as a first choice. other than that it's practice for your SATs since colleges will never see your scores. (unless your school lists them on a transcript...)</p>
<p>It's a big thing, but you dont find out if youve won until halfway through senior year</p>
<p>Mmmmm. after reading this I think I should have prepared a little. I had a halo 2 all nighter and then a couple of red-bulls to prepare so- I don't know how I will do. :/</p>
<p>I didn't prepare at all either, and ended up commended. so I really wish I'd prepared and had a chance at semifinalist.</p>
<p>NMSF and Commended students are notified of their status in September of their senior year -- in plenty of time to include the info on their college applications. <a href="http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php</a></p>
<p>I think the University of Central FLorida gives full rides to all Finalists</p>
<p>i bombed my psats and now have a 2220 sat score. dont worry danielson</p>
<p>Depends on where you want to go... I don't think Ivies take NMS, in which case Finalist is just another nice thing to put on your app.</p>
<p>hey indian-
about the USC thing, what would you define as "decent grades?"</p>