National Merit Commended Student scholarships

Paying for College National Merit Aid
1

<p>Hi, I'm a high school junior who took the PSAT in Oct. 2009. My score will most likely qualify me as a National Merit Commended Student. I am wondering what kinds of scholarships I can get as a result of this. My Princeton Review PSAT prep book says that it "does make you eligible for special scholarships sponsored by certain companies and organizations, which vary in their amounts and eligibility requirements."</p>

<p>I think I will get my commendation notification (and maybe more info?) in my senior fall, but where can I learn more about this now? Is there a list of companies and organizations that sponsor these scholarships online, how much money you can get, and what the eligibility requirements are? If anyone knows where online (or other) info is located, I would appreciate it. Also, feedback about these scholarships from past Commended Students would be great. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>The National Merit site has info on this:
<a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/student_guide.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/student_guide.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And, yes, you will get more info in the fall.</p>

3

<p>What is the cutoff score for being ‘Commended’ or is it set later by each state like the cutoff for ‘Semifinalist’ ??</p>

4

<p>The cut-off score for Commended is set nationally but varies each year. Here is a helpful post I found on CC: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/2993607-post662.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/2993607-post662.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It shows that the Commended score has gone from 201 in 2004 to 203 in 2007, so it will probably be around there.</p>

5

<p>Thank you. That is helpful. Do you know when they set the ‘commended’ level and how to find out ??</p>

6

<p>The commended level is the first 50,000 students ( I believe that is the number). They take top 50,000 and there is a cut off. Then off the 50,000 about 16000 make semi-finalist (SF) but this is a state wise cut off. Each state has quota based on the total number of HS students (seniors?). So the cut off may be 221 for MA and 201 for WY (the same as the commended list). So if the commended is 201 everyone in WY is a SF and there is no commended in WY. But only those who get 221 or more in MA are SF. Those between 220 and 201 in MA are commended.</p>

<p>So you could make it to SF depending on your state.</p>

7

<p>Good explanation, mazewanderer. I think they notify High Scorers in senior fall, maybe Sept? I’m not sure.</p>

8

<p>Yes. Seniors are notified very late in August or in early September. This year my son was notified in late August. At that time, he was given a packet to complete and return. The kids at his school who were commended were notified later. NMF will be notified around 2 Feb. by their schools or about a week later via the mail. Hope this helps.:)</p>

9

<p>You will get a letter in March/April 2010 asking you to name two schools for them to send your details. If you get that letter, you know you are in the list. In August/Sept 2010, the semi finalists are informed, those who do not make the SF list are commended. They will be informed a little later. However, if you follow CC, you will know where you stand based on the state wide cut-off. You can look at last years lists and you will know approximately where the cut off will be. It generally does not change more than +/- 2 points from the previous year.</p>

10

<p>Usually to get a corporate scholarship, you have to be a child of an employee and you have to be NMF. There are some that will give scholarships to some Commended kids…usually about $2k per year.</p>

<p>And…often, the parent has to submit the paperwork in the fall of junior year - before scores are even known. </p>

<p>I’ve only heard of one school that gives a scholarship to commended students. </p>

<p>A Commended student has a much better chance of getting a good merit scholarship from a university if he just gets a high SAT or ACT score (along with a good GPA).</p>

<p>My older son made NMF, my younger son made Commended. They both have great scholarships because one got a NMF tuition & housing scholarship, BUT…the son who got Commended got a full tuition scholarship plus $4500/yr based on his SAT and GPA (including $2k per year from my H’s company for his Commended status).</p>

<p>So, instead of just looking for commended scholarships, you’d likely do better to make sure that your stats are high so that you’ll get a great scholarship based on that. :)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

11

<p>Thank you everyone!</p>