<p>I was wondering how heavily this is weighted on a college app. I got mine back... 205. So, I think that thatll be enough to be commended, but not for a semi-finalist. How important is either of these distinctions?</p>
<p>ill b commended too, not semi.....and im wondering the same...just how important is it being a semifinalist if ur applyin to the top schools?</p>
<p>It helps but not a ton. The real value of being a Semifinalist is in the scholarships you can get from state schools (many are fullride+) and some lower tier schools may have some good scholarships for it. 8200 of the 15000 finalists get $2500 from NMSC also.</p>
<p>Well if you're black or Hispanic and you have a 200+ on the PSAT, you'll be eligible for the same scholarships as National Merit, and colleges give full rides still.</p>
<p>I'm in a win-win situation =).</p>
<p>yeah whoops I didn't take the PSAT</p>
<p>It helps only if you are commended or semi-finalist. Otherwise they don't care. It could get you into schools if you are borderline for that school.</p>
<p>Someone here posted a link (some threads back) to a section of Oklahoma University's web page: for National Merit Scholar, one is basically awarded a free ride with the sole requirement of having to maintain a GPA of 3 or higher once the recipient matriculates and begins study.</p>
<p>how did you get your score already?</p>
<p>What REALLY matters are your SAT scores...</p>
<p>kman, I'm almost positive it's a 3.25 which isn't a piece of cake in some majors or if you start slacking off/partying hard. Florida has almost the identical scholarship too.</p>
<p>8200 of the 16000 finalists get one of the three merit scholarships: a $2500 official National Merit Scholarship, a corporate-sponsored scholarship, or a college-sponsored scholarship.</p>
<p>I've gotten the impression that being a National Merit Scholar doesn't count for much in the admissions process. It shouldn't since it's the same thing as a high SAT score.</p>
<p>One kid asked that at a Yale informational session and the representative said "I wasn't a national merit scholar and I still got in." I think it helps, but if you're not don't worry about it.</p>
<p>If you are commended, are you considered " a national merit scholar" or is that distinction only given to those who make finalist?</p>
<p>One half of the Oklahoma scholarship (the scholars program) requires a 3.25 GPA. The other half (tuition/board waiver) sets the bar at 2.8.
And yes, if one parties hard/slacks anywhere, one will not maintain a GPA of 3; I am assuming some studying will take place, but not the kind of work it takes to achieve a 4.</p>
<p>I am also wondering the same thing as the OP.</p>
<p>Commended vs semi?</p>
<p>huge difference?</p>
<p>First of all, I am certainly a National Merit Finalist. How much does it help at the big name schools? Nothing. What happens if you didn't score well on the PSAT? Nothing. Colleges, particularly the Ivies and such, don't really care how well or little you do on a two-hour test. What they are impressed with are your SAT scores. And who gets a 2400 on their first try?</p>
<p>vinny</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure the designation "national merit scholar" is reserved for those who make finalist and get a scholarship from NMSC, a corporation, or the college they attend.</p>
<p>i would defiently not say that being a national merit scholar means nothing to schools, regardless of whether it is an ivy or not. the fact is that the psat is just one test that you take on one day. colleges know that. they know that some extremely bright people mess up by making a few careless errors on the math section and those few careless errors can immediately kill the score due to the detrimental curve and so they do not get national merit. on the other hand, they know that if someone gets national merit, it wasnt just dumb luck. that person obviously has a brain in their head. being a national merit certains helps but to a minimal extent. colleges like to see trends. a bright student who a college wants is going to have a high GPA, taking hard classes, get academic awards, be in academic societies, and ultimately, be getting high standarized test scores. colleges dont like to see inconsistancies. if you do not get natioal merit, it is far from teh end of the world. if you are commended instead of a semi, colleges know that getting one more math question right and maybe one more vocab question right versus someone who missed both of those is not insanely more intelligent as you. they know that the miniscule differences do not matter. a college is not going to say that someone with a 4.15 GPA is so much brighter than someone with a 4.18 GPA and likewise, will not see a difference between a 216 on the PSAT versus a 213 on the PSAT. A 213 in florida will get you commended while the 216 will get you semi. the fact is that doing well on the psat only shows colleges that you are smart, once again. if you have a high GPA etc. and then do well on teh PSATS then colleges are only more certain, but they are defiently not even significantly less certain of you being smart if you do not make semi. and again, the fact is that the SAT is very similar. the two formats are almost identical. how is the SAT so much more important than the PSAT? the SAT and PSAT are both just tests that you sit down and take for a few hours on a certain day and both have curves where getting only two questions more wrong than another person shows a significant flutuation in score. the SAT is only slightly more important because colleges actually see your SAT scores. they do not see your PSAT scores. that is why people say oh well only teh SAT really matters. if a college see two students from different schools with the identical GPA and classes, the standarized test scores are what seperates them. the standarized test scores are what colleges use to compare the two of them. all in all, my point is that if you are a strong student and dont get national merit, you shouldnt have anything to worry about because colleges will know that you are smart anyway and only messed up on one test and one day. one single test is not a tru reflection of your entire intelligence and it is rediculous to think as such.</p>
<p>I have a question that is sort of off-topic, but correlates to what IHATESAT said. Do colleges consider the number of problems missed in the SAT? For example, I scored a 2370 on my SATs on my first try, missing one math problem to get the 770 in math. Obviously, it's not as impressive as seeing a 2400 on the first try, but I was wondering whether or not colleges would acknowledge that it was only one problem and count it on an equal basis with a 2400.</p>
<p>Being a national merit scholar is more about the prestige than anything else. Colleges don't really care, there isn't much money, and finalists aren't notified until after they've applied to colleges.</p>
<p>chillaxin, the margin of error on the SAT is something like +-30 points, so 2370 is basically as good as you can get. I would worry about the other parts of your application, not your stellar scores.</p>