National Merit Finalist: Am I Safe?

Applying to College
1

<p>Got 215 on my PSAT
Got 2120 on my SAT (780M, 650CR, 690W)
am I safe for finalist?
cutoff for my state was 210 for PSAT</p>

<p>3.91 UW GPA</p>

2

<p>Yes. My impression is that you have to do really badly in school not to make finalist if you’ve qualified for the semis (multiple C’s, failing classes, etc.)</p>

3

<p>You should be fine, the vast majority (15,000 out of 16,000?) of NMSF’s become NMF’s. I’ve heard that most of the people who don’t make it either have some very weak grades or don’t bother to fill out the paperwork.</p>

4

<p>I doubt anyone is “safe”, but…yeah…looks good. There is another thread on here that states a parent of a semifinalist was told by NM board that you need something like 1950 ish?</p>

<p>I’m a bit worried because, at my D’s school…last year they had about 22 semis and only about 17 finalists! That’s a crazy ratio when 15,000 out of 16,000 advance. Dunno what kept them out. But my D’s GPA isn’t on the same level as her standardized tests. We’ll see. Fingers crossed for y’all.</p>

5

<p>^^^17/22? Did everyone’s paperwork get filed on time? The students and guidance counselors need to work together to make sure all of the documentation, including essays and transcripts, gets sent out on time.</p>

6

<p>midmo…I don’t know anything about the circumstances, just those final stats. I’ve heard on another thread that one D anywhere on your transcipt might stop you, or 2 Cs (unless there is a really big reason you can explain). Those are major guesses though. Maybe it was just an anomaly that year. </p>

<p>I’m thinking my D has a chance at not making finalist…and we NEED that “finalist” status for a particular scholarshp that gives preference to finalists. And her GPA fell when she changed schools. She’s inching it back but that takes a LONG time so it’s only 3.67 UW. But…time will tell. Doesn’t help to fret over it - everyone should be DONE and just waiting at this point. Again - luck to everyone.</p>

7

<p>I was told that the reasons why people do not generally make it to finalist are

  1. SAT scores are low (1950 is what I have heard or about 200 points lower i.e. PSAT score*10-200), so anyone above 2000 should be OK
  2. The GPA is very low (many c’s, and I have heard a GPA of say less than 3.5 becomes dangerous).
  3. There is some character issue that school is not able to recommend the student (suspensions, trouble with the law etc.)
  4. People do not submit the application (apprently there are few of those).</p>

<p>So I am surprised how only 17 out of 22 were selected. Do any of these conditions apply to those 5 students who did not make it,</p>