I’m a National Merit Semifinalist, and I was wondering whether trying to get further in the competition (i.e. applying to become a Finalist or a scholarship-winner) would be impressive to Harvard’s admissions committee? I ask because I thought the award might not say much except that I have a high PSAT, and it’s quite a lot of extra effort to apply.
Congratulations! Harvard receives applications from hundreds of NMFA sermi-finalistas and finalists, so they tend not to be impressed. It’s certainly not prestigious as being a semi-finalist or finalist from Intel, Siemens, or Google. You should do NMFA for yourself if you want the chance at getting some extra $$. That said, see this from Harvard about outside awards: https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/types-aid/outside-awards
@sansculottes You may want to go for the NMF status in the outside chance that you are not admitted to Harvard. It can help you get institutional merit aid at many colleges.
Thanks for the advice!
@TomSrOfBoston you are master of subtlety. Cheers!
My son just sent in his NMF application. It’s really not very much work at all - essentially cutting and pasting info from the Common App, including the personal statement.
Yup. What Tom said. And as the late Yogi Berra said, it ain’t over til its over.
Agree, it was not that much work for my kid. If I were Harvard and saw that you were a semi-finalist who did not make finalist, I would wonder why… and it could help you at your match and safety schools, where you are honestly much more likely to end up.
WOW! If you think the NMF app is a lot of work…then how will you manage Harvard?!
I haven’t actually seen the NMF app - this is just what I heard from my Guidance Counsellor who has advised against trying to get further in the competition. She said it doesn’t really help with admissions at places like Harvard, and all my match/safety schools are in the UK (I live there and it’s way cheaper). I wanted to get a second opinion about her first statement.
I’m totally up for working hard, but if it’s not going to be very useful for me I’d rather dedicate my efforts elsewhere. Thanks for the advice though x
@sansculottes You are a US Citizen right? You have to be a citizen or permanent resident (greencard holder) to be eligible for NMF. That doesn’t mean you have to live here - just be qualified to. If you are not a US Citizen, then don’t bother applying.
Yes I’m a US citizen but it’s still cheaper for me to go to university in the UK.
If you have some bad grades, you may be automatically out a as NMF, so that may go into your thinking. If you have below a 3.0 average or have individual grades below a C (or whatever the UK equivalent is), you’re not likely to advance to the next round, so it’s probably not even worth continuing.
My kids attended Harvard and Yale for LESS than the cost of their flagship state school. So, you should run Harvard’s NPC to make sure that statement is true: https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator
Grades do play into it. OP, I would do it. What if you decide to transfer to a U.S. college later? And as I mentioned above, a school like Harvard will wonder why you are a semi-finalist, but not finalist. It isn’t a ton of work. A couple of forms, send your SAT scores, and one essay. This is not a meaningless honor, it is worth doing.
Grades do matter. Here are the requirements to move to Finalist: http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf
“If I were Harvard and saw that you were a semi-finalist who did not make finalist, I would wonder why…” Finalists aren’t notified until February, so unless a student supplements his or her app, Harvard would not know either way.
My kid who made finalist notified all her schools when it happened. I assume most students do, and the info is available before RD decisions are released.
It’s always good to have a plan B, or C…
Some schools offer NMF full rides just for that designation.
And you might want to keep your pants on, @sansculottes :))