National Achievement!

<p>Is there anyone here that scored below a 189 on the PSAT?</p>

<p>Two quick questions:</p>

<p>The essay just wants a basic descripition of your life and is not meant to be as creative as your real college essay, right?</p>

<p>For college major, does it matter at all, or would it be better to say undecided instead of economics?</p>

<p>When doing scholarship or college essays, it's always best to provide your info in as interesting a way as possible.</p>

<p>My guess is that it would be best to put "economics" because probably some scholarships are sponsored by corporations who'd like to help out a student who might end up working for them. </p>

<p>If you were considering a major like philosophy or English, which aren't likely to attract scholarships from corporations or professional organizations, my guess is it would be better to put "undecided."</p>

<p>From what I've seen on a variety of college web sites, the majors that are likely to attract scholarship funders are: business, agriculture, nursing, math and the hard sciences. This particularly is true for URMs.</p>

<p>hard sciences?</p>

<p>Hard sciences: physics, chemistry, biology, not things like the social sciences (sociology, political science, psychology).</p>

<p>Engineering is another major that gets a lot of scholarship support and lacks URMs.</p>

<p>Northstarmom,</p>

<p>Your son will definitely be a semifinalist. Most likely, he will also be commended by national merit.</p>

<p>I was notified today :)</p>

<p>My counselor was really happy, probably because two of her other students got National Merit semi.</p>

<p>The essays look like fun! (Whips out green packet)</p>

<p>hey...do u guys kno wut the cutoff score for nat'l achievement is? Thanks</p>

<p>Does anyone know if they would give consideration if the application's turned in late b/c of your school's disorganization?</p>

<p>pgedufailedme,
I don't really know the answer to your question. I suggest you contact National Achievement directly on Monday and ask them, explain the situation if possible.</p>

<p>In the future though, if your school is disorganized, I suggest either you or one of your parents step up and take responsibility for making sure they get your stuff done. At my daughter's school, they mean well and really want her to succeed, but they are overworked and understaffed. Anyway, I ended up leaving work early today so I could go by the school, pick up the National Achievement application and take it to the post office. </p>

<p>So get to know your counselor. Ask if he/she needs help to get your stuff done on time. Give clear deadlines, plenty of notice and follow up a lot. </p>

<p>Congratulations on making semifinalist!
Good luck.</p>

<p>Thanks. I'll take heed to your advice in the future. I'm pretty sure the pricnicipal's assistant mailed it on friday, so i'll call nat'l achievement to see if they'll accept it if it's postmarked by the deadline.</p>

<p>I'd be interested in hearing about some of the scholarship offers and/or unique college solicitations received by National Achievement Semifinalists. I read NSM's post about her son being offerd a very nice package from NC-Central. While my D has received some nice letters and offers, I'm surprised that none have come from HBCU's (although NC-Central has a 90%+ AA stsudent body...). I just imagined that HBCU's would make a concerted effort to recruit top students.</p>

<p>Just out of curiosity: If an African American student scored at or above the cut-off for national merit semifinalist, would she be a national achievement semifinalist, merit semifinalist, or both?</p>

<p>If she scored in the range for National Achievement semi and National Merit semi, she could be both. She could only accept a merit scholarship, however, from one program. Since a couple of years ago, the Wash Post reported that only 72 black students scored above 1500 on the SAT that year, probably fewer than 100 students a year do so well as to be semifinalists or finalists in both program.</p>

<p>celhenry,
If you'd like to see what HBCUs offer to National Achievement semifinalist check out their web pages or contact their scholarship offices. Many are very generous even if they don't have that info on their web pages (which unfortunately tend not to be as comprehensive as the web pages of mainstream colleges).</p>

<p>Thank you NSM. Spelman and Howard are currently on her list. Howard seems to have better academic scholarship offers while Spelman offers very little aid (or so it seems).</p>

<p>D received finalist letter yesterday! (We're in CA.) She put "semi-finalist" on her applications. Should she email colleges with update? Or maybe have her GC include comment in mid-year report? What do you guys think?</p>

<p>Your daughter should send a hard copy letter (making sure her SS # or other identification is on it) to each college's admissions office letting each college know that she's a finalist and also remains very interested in that college. She also should include updates about any other significant awards and achievements.</p>

<p>I do not suggest e-mail. E-mails are easily overlooked. It's much easier, too, to put a hard copy into a student's file.</p>

<p>Yay! I'm a finalist too! I found out today! I was so worried that I didn't, but I did! All the kids at my school who were semi-finalists advanced! Yay!</p>

<p>Question:
to be considered for Nat'l Achievement next year do your PSATs have to in the 95% or better? I was in the 94% (195) this year so I know I missed National Merit, is Nat'l Achievement still possible?
Btw I live in VA</p>

<p>abena301</p>