National Merit Finalist?

Applying to College
1

Hi. So I am a national merit semifinalist! But I am concerned that because of my grades I won’t get placed as a finalist. My stats:

PSAT: 221
SAT: 2170 (good enough?)
Grades:
9th grade: all A’s

10th grade: all A’s i believe

11th grade:
APUSH: B
HEALTH: A
HONORS SOCIOLOGY: A
HONORS PRECAL: A
AP ENGLISH: B first semester. A second semester
AP CHEM: B
AP SPANISH: B

12th grade:
AP BIOLOGY: probably going to make a B
HONORS ENGLISH: probably going to make a B
AP PSYCHOLOGY: gonna be a B or A, cant really say for sure
AP STATS: B or A, cant really say

Rank:
102/1250ish
8%

My main concern is the amount of B’s I am probably going to have…
Also, which transciript(s) is sent? Just the one that shows grade up till end of junior year?

Thanks!

2

@chick98 If you stop by CC’s National Merit Scholarship forum (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/) I think you’ll discover that conventional wisdom says you are fine, since you don’t have any C’s. A 1970 SAT is high enough, so your 2170 is just fine. :slight_smile:

3

Thank you! So even if I receive all B’s, im good? Thanks:)

4

When did your school send NMCorp your transcript? and what was on it?

5

M2CK has been tracking NMSF to NMF results, she’ll have the best data, but using the search (last year) I couldn’t find a time where someone with mostly A’s with a few B’s (and no C’s, D’s, F’s) wasn’t granted NMF, unless they had a discipnary record or blew off the essay. There was one student that wrote a derisive essay about the NMF process, the story goes they didn’t get advanced.

6

They sent it in about a week before the October 7 deadline. All I know is that my high school’s normal transcripts only have end of semester grades… But I’ve emailed my counsel to ask specifically was sent to NMF

7

Thanks!

8

Well, if they sent it about Oct 1st, what possible grades could be on there at that point? Schools don’t usually put quarter grades.

9

Here is a list of scholarships that you may get if you make finalist (in some cases semifinalist is enough):
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/

10

I would guess only grades up till end of junior year would be there. We have 6 week grading periods and the first one ended September 29… But those grades aren’t put on normal transcripts… Only end of semester averages are.