@Reebtoor yep, I forgot Senior grades weren’t posted on Oct 10.
You know, I guess 11th grade earned and course work you will take in grade 12 matters.
I’m starting to believe grades are less important when considering finalist.
I still believe one C in 9th doesn’t matter. I will be more concerned if multiple C’s as a Junior and taking some very easy classes in 12th.
@texaggie - Thank you. It’s the “consistently high … in all grades 9-12” that concerns me. That, and the prior years’ anecdotes of students not being named finalist who had a C on their transcripts. There have been others who have reported making it with Cs, too, so it’s hard to say. There has been speculation that it may depend on your state, or that it may depend on the class for which the C was earned, or that it may depend on whether it was a full-year C or just a semester C… I’ll be anxious until we get a certificate.
A friend received their rejection letter yesterday for not fulfilling the consistently high academic record, so I guess they’ve already started mailing them.
Thank you for the information, trynapass. Could you please share the state?
@trynapass Is your friend from north, northeast, south, southeast, west, northwest or mid west?
Which regions in the United States? Thanks…
After years on CC with kids in prep schools and college applications, the most useful thing I’ve learned is “informed delivery.” Thanks for sharing! Here’s to obsessively checking mail for the next few months through college applications and NMF status questions! I wish I didn’t care so much but it really matters financially and my senior has applied to a school that offers a bunch for NMF.
Nothing in Informed Delivery today…
How long before we can most likely believe we are in the clear based upon the fact that some people have gotten notices already? Sorry if this was discussed earlier in the thread. Thanks!
on Monday someone from East received a letter.
If original letter were sent from Evanston, IL (on Friday), not counting Sunday, it took 2 days to arrive in East.
Except for West Coast, I’m thinking letter should have arrived by yesterday or today. All letters should be in by Saturday for any major cities and surrounding areas.
So, I’m OK after today and I will be happy dance after Saturday.
@texaggie - that is assuming all rejection letters were sent simultaneously…
Anyone else find it strange that they notify the thousand or so semifinalists who did not advance to the finalist stage now, but wait until mid February to notify the remaining 15,000 or so semifinalists who have advanced to the final stage? Also, for those who do advance to the next stage, do you think it’s worth updating the schools from which you are still waiting to hear about this development?
@TheBigChef, I find much of this whole process strange. Why does the whole process take so long? Why inform the schools instead of (semifinalist stage) and before (finalist stage) the students? Why is all notification done by snail mail? Why not just post results in the portal? We’re just stuck playing the game.
I suppose it’s worth updating schools, though I’m not sure of the best way to do that. Our GC is also sending mid-year transcripts.
I am guessing they want to give time to those wrongly denied to appeal so that they can still include them in the national merit finalist book that they publish out in the event it was purely an error on their part or technicalities on the part of the school, and if their appeal was successful.
Haha! I had no clue about this informed delivery either. So, the letters arrive through USPS package? Or, it is general mail? Thanks for all the information, everyone! Good Luck!
Will finalists know by FUN form due date of 2/15. It would be nice to have something to put there even if NMFs are a dime a dozen at MIT.
@BertieMom Maybe. Your school should know by then, but they aren’t always the greatest at passing on the news. You might not have received your letter at home by then.
@kdnmom Many have wondered those same thibfs. It is a private scholarship organization who can and does choose to do things their own way. Maybe they will eventually change to portal notifications, but until then, we must rely on snailmail & school officials.
@AggieMom68 Letters straight to Semifinalists/Finalists (who are not homeschoolers) are usually in First Class (or sometimes bulk) mail in roughly #10 size envelopes that show up in USPS Informed Delivery notifications.
Schools receive larger envelopes both in the fall for semifinalist notifications and Finalist notifications. In the latter case, there are certificates of some kind included. Homeschoolers likely receive the larger envelopes both in the fall and February since they are considered the school. (Homeschoolers are sonerimes/often? the first to report both semifinalist & finalist notifications.
Nothing in informed delivery here in CO. BTW - S19 received 2 emails from NMF schools yesterday. Do you think schools already have list?
@mountainmomof3
Absolutely not. If one was from UCF (Luke), he specifically points out that they will not have the Finalist list before mailing out invitations to their March event so not to read anything into it. Unlike NMSF lists, colleges do not get a list of Finalists except for the list of Finalists that have listed their school on or before a certain date (and not before March 1st).
They are just aware of the dates & deadlines and want your kid to remember them.
Ok - he got that one but also another one from Texas tech asking him to apply. I didn’t think they had list yet but it was weird to get back to back emails like that.
@mountainmomof3
According to NM. Yes, High school will receive around same time. I’m guessing few days earlier if NM send via portal link or email. I believe school does connect directly to NM portal to update status as broader view.
By mid-February, NMSC will notify Finalists at their home addresses. NMSC also will inform high school principals about the status of their Semifinalists and provide a Certificate of Merit for presentation to each one who qualifies as a Finalist.