DS was notified of making the NM Commended list. His PSAT (219) is significantly higher than the national cut of 207 for this year, but as in a very competitive state, he did not make the NMSF.
The question is: Should he mention NM Commended in the award section of the common app? He does have a high enough SAT score (comparable to his PSAT) which he will submit everywhere. Given the much lower cut, it seems mentioning it would not do much good.
I would love to hear your thoughts about whether or not it helps or hurts to list this. Thanks!
We have gotten conflicting advice. My S24 (index 222) decided that he was proud of it and wanted to report so it is on all of his applications. I figured it cant hurt since he would have been a finalist in any state other than ours.
If he has 5 other honors/awards leave it out, if not, include it. It probably makes zero difference one way or another, but its feels good to have things to put down in that section. Also, I think we take commended for granted when your score is so far above thee cutoff, but I was so surprised when I saw how few kids from our very competitive HS made the cut.
If there are not 5 other academic awards that are more selective, then definitely include it. Commended is top 3-4% in the country on a one-and -done test, and that Selection Index would mean NMSF in most states. Mention it and include the selection index: that is what college counselors in our high-cutoff state encourage.
Depends on where he is applying.
For lottery schools, it does not matter if you are NMF or NMC. They have enough 1500++ kids and the score is basically a qualifier.
For the next tier below and down, I would include that in the list of honors on Common App.
As others are suggesting, our feederish HS encourages including it if you have the space. How much it helps, who knows, but the counselors don’t think it can hurt.