<p>I am trying to figure out what my son's chances are for advancing to NM Finalist. His weakness is his GPA (3.38 UW, 4.18 Weighted). Does anyone know historically what GPAs have resulted in making finalist? As far as I can tell he should be fine in all other areas, but his GPA is clearly on the low end for a semifinalist</p>
<p>No idea. Similarly, does anyone know how finalists are usually determined other than GPA? Do they extensively analyze ECs/essay?</p>
<p>I believe they only check that the SATs ,GPA, and references.</p>
<p>I was a semifinalist way back in 1974 (yes, I’m old) and I didn’t make finalist. It’s pretty rare but I pulled it off. Since I’m sure my GPA was good enough, and my SATs exactly matched my PSAT score, I’m figuring it was the references, or I forgot to mail in my SAT score. I never did find out. In those days, at least for me and my family, we didn’t know a whole lot about the process.</p>