In reading the web site on this it indicates that the students that attend a high school are notified via their school. But my daughters counselor indicated that we should get a letter directly that would talk about what she needs to do. We know that she is a semifinalist because our school system posted it and the counselor (who is a family friend) confirmed she is a finalist. Will we get information directly from the National Merit Scholarship program about the next steps that need to be done or do I need to go back to the counselor to find out more (like the essay).
The school has to provide the NMSF information to your daughter. The school has to log in to the NMSC system and print out the letter/info for your daughter. Call NMSC and confirm this if you can’t get your school to do it. Is your kid’s school one that rarely has NMSF students?
(I know this because I am a homeschooling parent, and so I act as the “guidance counselor” / principal for our homeschool. NMSC sends me the notification (end of August) and then I have to go onto the NMSC website, enter tons of data for the “school” end of the application, and then print the letter for the student. I’ve been through this process twice – in 2014/15 for my oldest, and again this year for my son.)
You NEED your school’s cooperation in this process! Call NMSC for guidance/help!
Your school was given her code and login information. Call the school! Deadline for completion is Oct 12.
@mmom99, thanks for this info. This is the exact answer to a question I asked on another thread. GC says she doesn’t have the student letters with their log on info, only her own. I suggested that she might have to log in (she hasn’t), but she wasn’t convinced and sounded like she wasn’t planning to soon because of other deadlines. I told her I would call NMSC on Monday, and she seemed good with that. Maybe I can convince her if I get the instructions from NMSC (even though I already know what they are). @gggood62, Good luck! Sounds like I am in the same boat as you.
You are very welcome! Yes, the GC MUST log on and then she can print out the letters for her students. I’ve done it myself twice now. 
She’ll have a boat load of work to do on the site, too, to do the school part of the process. The NMSC people are very nice. Just call, and have the GC call, to get help if needed. EVERYTHING is due Oct 12, so be sure folks are on track ahead of time. Good luck!
Just to follow up. My daughter and the other student final got the information about being semifinalist from her school. The GC in charge of scholarships didn’t understand what they needed to do. So if you your school isn’t informing the kid that are semifinalist call them so you can get the log in information and the GC will do their part.
Stories like this just amaze me. That GC should probably step aside and let someone else be in charge of scholarships. If he/she doesn’t know anything about one of the longest-running NATIONAL college scholarship organizations in the country, well then . . . . I just don’t know what.
My son and the two others at his school also received their letters yesterday. I was finally able to convince the GC to log in after I called NMSC and told her what they said. (By the way, NMSC said they could not give me the log in credentials directly.) You would not believe the incorrect information I got from the GC when I inquired about this last spring. (I was trying to find out who at the school would receive the information, but she disagreed with me on many points about the process. I gave up on the conversation and figured I would have to wait until Sept to revisit.)