<p>I thought the PSAT was taken by sophomores & the SAT &/or ACT by juniors &/or seniors. Bu, it seems most of you are juniors or seniors. Can someone please clarify who is eligible to be a scholar --- sophmore PSAT takers or only jr's & sr's? Thanks!</p>
<p>Speaking of National Merit, have any of the Finalist's from last year gotten information on specific college scholarships? I believe they were supposed to be mailed out today.</p>
<p>Edit: and I think only to Junior score goes for qualifying. I took it Sophomore and Junior year, and got higher than the cutoff for both years, and only after my junior attempt did I get semifinalist.</p>
<p>Only the junior year PSAT is used to determine who is a scholar. Current juniors are now receiving letters telling them that they will either be commended or semi-finalists. Those that are later told they are semi-finalists have to meet some additional requirements to become finalists, and about 15,000 out of the 16,000 semi-finalists do so. The PSAT is not taken in the senior year. Rather, most students will take the SAT in the spring of the junior year, and again in the fall of senior year, if needed. It is my understanding that a much lower SAT score is one of the things that might result in somebody not becoming a finalist, but I have also heard that most of those who don't make it are those who don't turn in the application.</p>
<p>jmw123, all last year's finalists shall know by now about any NMF scholarships from the colleges' they apply to. In fact, they have to decide where to go to school by May 1.</p>
<p>how does the hispanic merit award work? is there a semi-finalist notification as there is with national merit?</p>
<p>haha...I finally received a letter. 222 in PA</p>
<p>Now that I have it, it seems so...unexciting.</p>
<p>Christian2: actually according to the website: "April 30, 2008: NMSC will begin mailing college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offers."</p>
<p>It is a bit weird that they'd wait so long to give out college-sponsored scholarships, but I think they do it so you'll only get them from your first choice school (that you will attend).</p>
<p>Wait i dont think ive gotten a letter at all, commended or otherwise, and my score was 217, is this not high enough or has NY mailed the letters yet?</p>
<p>mun, it's okay, i'm in NY, have a 219, and haven't heard anything.</p>
<p>The college-sponsored scholarships are awarded last (and late) to wait for Finalists to make their college selection - providing the choice was made in time.</p>
<p>I finally got my letter yesterday...</p>
<p>So now i'm starting to freak out. My friend got her letter on tuesday. I still haven't heard anything. Is there a "reply by" date on the letter?</p>
<p>I just got my letter yesterday</p>
<p>214 in CT</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, are the semifinalists chosen based on just the PSAT score? Or is it the SAT later on?</p>
<p>
[quote]
So now i'm starting to freak out. My friend got her letter on tuesday. I still haven't heard anything. Is there a "reply by" date on the letter?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I believe you have until the end of may to return, although you can also send it in online.</p>
<p>Semis are solely PSAT scores. Finalist is an essay, small application, and SAT score (needs to be around whatever the semifinalist cutoff was for PSAT scaled to SAT).</p>
<p>Son got the letter - 222 in Ohio.</p>
<p>My S got his letter at school yesterday (California). He's puzzled as to why this is a big deal since he was one of over 100 students to make the initial cut-off of 200. That is 1 out of every 6 or 7 students at his public HS.</p>
<p>214, New York, nothing yet :(.</p>
<p>210, Got my letter today, (MN)</p>
<p>My S was notifed last week. He scored a 213 -99%</p>