<p>Ok so I'm really interested in getting into an Ivy League school (I have all the stats that are considered competitive, no need to list them), but I didnt take the PSAT. I didn't even hear about the PSAT until halfway through my Junior year (my school is attached to a junior college so I mostly take classes with college students and things like the PSAT aren't mentioned). My point is, I keep hearing about all these people getting into Ivy League schools that were National Merit semifinalists or finalists. Can you still have a good chance at getting into an Ivy League school without National Merit? I'm a little worried at this point (Success stories would be greatly appreciated).</p>
<p>Well I don’t have a personal story, but it is definitely possible to get in without it. I mean, it definitely helps you if you have it, but it’s not absolutely necessary.</p>
<p>thanks mikester0904! good to know :)</p>
<p>Lack of National Merit status will have no effect for you for Ivy league admission. The program is primarily beneficial to those who get merit scholarships simply by virtue of their NMF status, and the Ivys don’t give out merit scholarships for NMFs (though those getting an outside NM scholarship can use it there). However, your SAT (or ACT) scores, which are the followup to the PRELIMINARY SAT (PSAT) do have an effect.</p>
<p>Bottom line: don’t sweat it. If you would have been good enough at test taking to qualify, you’ll likely have good options anyway. You just miss out on a resume item.</p>
<p>It wont have an effect. All it does is help you get scholarships. Thats it. It would have been good to prepare for SAT, but if you feel your scores are good enough, dont sweat it, seriously.</p>
<p>Hopeful:
At my D’s large school…1-2 kids per year get into the HYPSM type Ivies (then a few more kids get into the “lesser” Ivies). But most of these HYPSM admits are not “top” anything except GPA. They might be National Merit commended, or the lower AP scholar designations. But what they DO seem to have in common (in addition to ECs and leadership of course) is GPA. Pretty much all As in all semesters in all their academic courses. And they take the most rigorous courses so the weighting results in 5.1-5.4 GPAs </p>
<p>Our school provides a list of who got in where and with what stats (generic, no names of course, averages). Kids with 5.0 GPAs got into Ivies…even if they had a 600 on one area of their SAT I. But kids with INCREDIBLE SATs, and 4.4-4.9 GPAs…did NOT get into Ivies. At least that’s the trend as I see it. Of course there are different admissions officers for different geographic areas…maybe some favor GPA and some favor standardized tests. </p>
<p>At any rate…National Merit is ONE indicator and ONLY in 11th grade and you can shine elsewhere. Admissions counselors like to remind us that they take into considertion what your school offers. If you have a school that doesn’t offer AP…they can’t really say they require 5 AP grades. They want you to take as much rigor as YOUR school offers. They know it’s not a level playing field out there. My D’s school insists that all kids take the PSAT, but that’s something that didn’t happen for you - maybe you can find a way to mention that. If your SATs are high…then it won’t matter, they’ll see you WOULD have accomplished that in the PSAT if you’d been given the head’s up.</p>
<p>I had posted in a different forum that most students get into Harvard and other top institutions due to record (SAT scores, GPA, EC’s etc) and may also happen to be National Merit winner. Those schools do not go out of the way to attract National Merit winners (yet they get a lot of them) and do not really care if you even took the PSAT. If you were on the cut-off point, being a National Merit winner could tip it in your favor, but I am going to guess the number who get this boost are not very many. Hence do not sweat it all, it will not have an impact.</p>