<p>Did alternate entry because was sick on PSAT. Submitted my 2290 SAT back in March. Now I'm a semifinalist. I'm a Senior this year btw. My grades have been good through high school. I got 5's on 8 AP exams. The only problem is that I don't have many extracurricular. I played football freshman year and I've lifegaurded for the past 2 Summers, but that's it. Should I kiss my chances of being a finalist away b/c no extracurriculars?</p>
<p>as long as you have good grades (not too many C semesters) you’re going to be fine.</p>
<p>No, it is almost certain you’ll make finalist (assuming “good grades” means somewhere north of 3.5 GPA). The EC’s do not figure into making the finalist cut, which requires a “good grades”, a confirmatory SAT score (which you already have), timely and respectful submission of the finalist application, and no disciplinary history. Where EC’s might become involved is in the more mysterious process of being selected a scholar from among the finalists.</p>
<p>What is the difference between a scholar and a finalist?</p>
<p>ManiacApple…A NM Scholar is any Finalist who is awarded an “official” NM Scholarship. That can be either the one-time $2500 scholarship, a corporate scholarship, or an “official” college sponsored scholarship (usually in the $1K-$2K per year range). Most of the big dollar NM scholarships that are awarded by universities are categorized as “unofficial” in that they come from the university directly as opposed to being administered by NMSC. Many of those unofficial university scholarships will also include or incorporate the smaller $1K-$2K per year as well, so you not only get the title of NM Scholar but a large unofficial scholarship as well. Best of both worlds!!</p>
<p>So I’m good for finalist, but not likely to receive a scholarship from a uni since I don’t have many ec’s? Also, when should I submit applications? After I find out if I’m a finalist?</p>
<p>I highly doubt that ECs count for making NMF.</p>
<p>Not making NMF is usually because…</p>
<p>poor grades
too low SAT score
discipline problem at school
rude essay
don’t do the paperwork
don’t send in SAT score.</p>
<p>I don’t think we’ve EVER heard of a student who doesn’t make NMF because of ECs. After all, that’s an area that could easily be fibbed, and NMCorp isn’t going to check everyone’s reported ECs.</p>
<p>So I’m good for finalist, but not likely to receive a scholarship from a uni since I don’t have many ec’s? Also, when should I submit applications? After I find out if I’m a finalist?</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>where are you getting your info?</p>
<p>Many NMF scholarships have NOTHING to do with ECs. Many are awarded JUST BECAUSE you’re a NMSF/F.</p>
<p>NO…do NOT wait until after you find out that you made NMF to apply…that’s too late. That would be FEBRUARY.</p>
<p>Apply NOW to the schools that give NMF scholarships…apply to a couple that give NMF scholarships to EVERY NMF student…no worries then.</p>
<p>Schools will give out scholarships to NMFs regardless of ECs. I am on a generous scholarship from the Univ of Alabama and I didn’t have many ec’s. There is a thread here that lists schools that give such scholarships.</p>
<p>University of SC also has automatic scholarship for NMF. Last year $10,000 for in state and $6000 OOS, both plus computer. Chances are you would also have scores to received other scholarships (USC stacks) some which reduce OOS tuition or waive it altogether so you pay instate rate.</p>
<p>manicapple,
You should apply to University of Southern Calif, and do so before Dec 1. If accepted there [you have a very good chance of acceptance- they accept about 50% of NMSF’s] you WILL automatically receive a 1/2 tuition scholarship for 8 semesters.</p>
<p>I apologize because what I said might have been misleading. The NMSC itself awards some scholarships to finalists and it could be that your lack of EC’s might affect their decisions. However many more scholarship opportunities are available from colleges who will award merit aid simply because of NMF status (and still more are available from corporations that are often given to children of employees or local students). You should apply for NMF consideration as soon as you have NMSF information. The deadline is usually mid-October. Only then will you be able to make it to NMF (as 15,000 out of 16,000 NMSF’s do every year).</p>
<p>"[you have a very good chance of acceptance- they accept about 50% of NMSF’s]"</p>
<p>Really? USC only accepts 50% of NMSF? That seems kind of low but then they may have a limit on the number of scholarships. Maybe a non-NMSF with the same stats would have a better chance of being admitted.</p>
<p>I doubt ECs play too much into getting one of the one time NMCorp 2500 awards either.</p>
<p>When we did that thread about the stats for those recipients, their stats seemed to be the predominating force for selection. NMCorp does want an equal # of males/females in each state, so that might cause one state to “dip lower” for one gender to have the equal number. </p>
<p>Yes, USC only accepts about 50% of the NMF applicants. there can be a number of reasons for this. USC is very SAT driven (likely M+CR driven), so a NMF who may not have a high M+CR will likely get rejected. There may also be a diversity issue involved. USC may need to decline some NMFs, so that they can accept other NMFs that help with their ethnic and regional diversity.</p>
<p>^^^According to IPEDS, University of Southern California (USC) has a general acceptance rate of 23% in the fall of 2011 so a 50% admit rate for NMSF is a nice bump.</p>
<p>Now if you’re talking about University of South Carolina, that’s a different story with a 70% admit rate but I don’t believe that’s the school the poster was referring to. But they do have the Leiber scholarship for NMF, NAF, and NHRPS students.</p>
<p>Edit: OOPS my bad, the OP WAS referring to University of South Carolina (need more caffeine!)</p>
<p>I was the one who posted that the U of Southern Calif -not South Carolina- accepts about 50% of NMSF’s, according to the Dean of Admissions. USC’s overall acceptance rate fell to 18% for the admitted class of 2012. So the most qualified NMSF’s do have a substantial advantage overall, but an expression of strong interest in actually going to USC is still important for any applicant there. There were about 500 applications from NMSF’s and 45000 total applications overall, so I seriously doubt that the racial makeup or state origin of only 1% of the applicant pool is used to balance USC’s overall diversity acceptance %'s . There were quite a few “top stat” applicants [ NMSF’s included] who applied to USC last year, but were not accepted or, much to their surprise, not offered the chance to compete for the big merit scholarships that USC offers to only 7% of early applicants. USC should not be viewed as a “safety” by anyone these days, but NMSF’s with top stats and EC’s and a true interest in attending USC do have an admissions advantage that should not be ignored.</p>
<p>Thanks, menloparkmom, for clearing that up. California seems to have a lot of competitive schools for out of staters, both public and private. Actually, I never realized USC was private. I always thought they were public for some reason, like Berkeley and UCLA. Shows you what I know.</p>
<p>So if someone has a 3.75, but the bad grades were centralized during one year, can he still be a Finalist? I had gotten all As up until my junior year and got 5 Bs and 4 Cs during junior year (along with 7 As, mind you), but prior to that I had like 30 something As, so my unweighted GPA is still a 3.75 (weighted is about 5.0). Does this make a difference as opposed to someone who had the same GPA but a more evenly dispersed transcript?</p>
<p>Does this make a difference?
no…</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>What were the C’s? Semester grades? quarter grades?</p>
<p>My previous semesters have been:
1 B
2 B’s
4 B’s
1 B, 1 C, received a referral</p>
<p>These have been in either Honors/AP classes.</p>
<p>I also received a B in Ochem I at a local community college the last semester.</p>
<p>Not sure if this matters, but I have taken a total of 28 credits at the CC (not dual enrollment) and ranked in the top 10%.</p>
<p>My writing style is straight-forward and honest. </p>
<p>I have not had any problems with any of my teachers (except the one who gave me the C and referral), so recommendations letters probably won’t be a problem.</p>
<p>What are my chances of moving on to finalist?!
Thanks to anyone who replies!!</p>