<p>I was just wondering how important being a National Merit Semifinalist is when considering admission to a certain college - i.e. Duke, Cornell, JHU, Rice</p>
<p>Those schools receive so many high scoring students that NMSF would not be a giant deal or anything. Nonetheless, it’s certainly a nice thing to have and it never hurts. It won’t be something that guarantees you admission or anything though.</p>
<p>Congrats on making NMSF. Since it sounds like the rejection letters went out over a week ago, you’ve also have made NMF. :)</p>
<p>It’s true that many NMSF apply to those schools, but still mention it.</p>
<p>Also, did you apply to any financial safety schools that would give you a NM scholarship?</p>
<p>As Mom2CK implied, NM really makes a difference if you go to a lower tier school where you can get a scholarship beyond the $2K offered from NMC.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>and only a small number get that NMCorp money.</p>