National Merit Semifinalist Qualify Scores -- Class of 2012

<p>NextGen, It says You must get accepted … Getting accepted is not automatic nor guaranteed at USC just because one is a NMF. I remember reading a post of an in state NMF applying to USC that was rejected.</p>

<p>^Actually, if you read the description of the scholarship from the link I provided it says:</p>

<p>“Selected on the basis of PSAT performance. Entering freshmen are considered if they have been designated National Merit Finalists and name USC as their first-choice college with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.”</p>

<p>If entering freshmen “are considered” then it IS NOT automatic or guaranteed. It also says the number of scholarships awarded varies, so again…not every NMF is necessarily going to get awarded this scholarship.</p>

<p>Ok, I have a kind of dumb question: will a score equal to the cutoff for your state make you a semifinalist or do you have to have a score above it? I’m in NM and got a 210.</p>

<p>SE2012 - Cutoff is the number that is the lowest number to be NMSF in your state. So if 210 is the cutoff for your State, you are in.</p>

<p>USC also has other half tuition scholarships that are not designated as NMSF. So the real question to ask since it says considered and not guaranteed - Is there anyone who knows someone who got into USC, did the 4 steps as outlined by Nextgen and not receive the half tuition?</p>

<p>Let us assume USC controls these scholarships by not admitting everyone who applies.</p>

<p>Se2012…Equal or greater than the cutoff score qualifies you for NMSF status.</p>

<p>D received letter in VA for 221 score.</p>

<p>lockjaw5, do you see anything on the letter or in the packet that indicates the cutoff score?</p>

<p>no indication of the cutoff score. The press release will be Sep 14.</p>

<p>The purpose of this thread is so we wouldn’t have to wait for the press release.</p>

<p>mom2collegekids - I am sorry, I don’t understand your comment: "Miami…you need to call your child’s school about that $1k. If that $1k was the official NMF award, then your child may not receive it. It depends on the school…some may give it “unofficially”. </p>

<p>the University is supposed to be giving my child $1000 since she is a NMScholar and she put this university as her #1 choice on that NM form. I did try to call about it last year but no one could explain anything to me! Then I read somewhere in their fine print how they handle this.</p>

<p>do you guys think 224 will make it in New York?</p>

<p>miami62…What M2CK is referring to is the difference between an “official” NMSC scholarship and an “unofficial” scholarship which a school might offer for NMF’s. The “official” NMSC scholarships are the one-time $2500, a university sponsored award (normally in the $1K-$2K per year range), a corporate scholarship, or one of the handful of special scholarships.</p>

<p>A student is only able to receive one “official” NMSC scholarship, so if your D received the one-time $2500 award that is her only allowable “official” award. If the $1K per year offered by the school is an “official” NMSC university sponsored award, your D cannot receive that money as an award through NMSC. If the university is willing to give the last 3 years of that scholarship to your D “unofficially” (basically like it’s another university based merit scholarship) that is their perogative but you’d need to check. Hopefully they’ll be willing to do so, or at least perhaps offer her an equivalent amount of merit aid under a different scholarship award. Good Luck!!</p>

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Yes…a 224 should make it in any state…No state has ever had a 225 cut-off.</p>

<p>*mom2collegekids - I am sorry, I don’t understand your comment: "Miami…you need to call your child’s school about that $1k. If that $1k was the official NMF award, then your child may not receive it. It depends on the school…some may give it “unofficially”. </p>

<p>the University is supposed to be giving my child $1000 since she is a NMScholar and she put this university as her #1 choice on that NM form. I did try to call about it last year but no one could explain anything to me! Then I read somewhere in their fine print how they handle this. *</p>

<p>You need to find out if the school’s $1,000 can be given “unofficially”. A student can only receive ONE official NMF scholarship.</p>

<p>My son selected his #1 school, but he couldn’t accept that school’s “official” part of the NMF scholarship ($1k per year) because he had accepted a corporate one for $2500 per year.</p>

<p>Thousandmiles…With the increases in many state cutoff scores this year there’s no absolute certanties until the scores get released on the 14th, but I don’t remember seeing any cutoff scores in the past higher than 223…and NY has not been quite as high as some of the other states in the Northeast. I know it’s hard to patiently wait for confirmation, but I think you can breathe easier than many others.</p>

<hr>

<p>PLEASE DON’T FREAK OUT! Check the explanation of the notation in the first post. When you see, for instance, AZ <= 219, that means that Arizona’s cutoff is no higher than 219. This comes from a report like, “I live in Arizona, made a 219, and got my letter.” When you see, for instance, TX > 216, that means that Texas’ cutoff is higher than 216. This comes from a report like, “I live in Texas, made a 216, and didn’t make it.”</p>

<hr>

<p>Remaining states that need to be finalized:
AK, AR, CO, CT, DE, DC, GA, ID, IN, IA, KY, LA,
ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND,
OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY</p>

<p>Updating KY, NY, VA</p>

<p>**AL = 211<a href=“post%20#281,%20per%20NMSC”>/b</a> +1
AK = ?
**AZ = 213<a href=“post%20#126/#132,%20per%20GC”>/b</a> +4
AR = ?
**CA = 221<a href=“post%20#321,%20per%20GC”>/b</a> +2
CO = ?
CT = ?
DE = ?
DC = ?
**FL = 214<a href=“post%20#107,%20per%20GC”>/b</a> +4
GA <= 221, > 217 (post #182, #363)
**HI = 216<a href=“post%20#225,%20per%20GC”>/b</a> +1
ID = ?
**IL = 216<a href=“post%20#110,%20per%20GC”>/b</a> +2
**IN = 214<a href=“post%20#147,%20#193,%20established%20by%20score%20comparison”>/b</a> +2
IA = ?
**KS = 214<a href=“post%20#87,%20per%20principal”>/b</a> +3
KY <= 218, > 211 (post #437, #111)
LA <= 211 (post #376)
ME = ?
MD = ?
MA <= 223 (post #359)
MI = ?
MN = ?
**MS = 205<a href=“post%20#192,%20NMSC”>/b</a> No change
MO = ?
MT <= 209 (post #90)
NE <= 215 (post #10)
NV <= 211 (post #250)
NH = ?
NJ = ?
**NM = 210<a href=“post%20#302,%20per%20GC”>/b</a> +4
NY > 220 (post #435)
NC <= 217 (post #288)
ND = ?
**OH = 214<a href=“post%20#28,%20established%20by%20score%20comparison”>/b</a> +2
**OK = 209<a href=“post%20#106,%20NMSC”>/b</a> +3
OR = ?
PA <= 215 (post #224)
RI = ?
SC > 210 (post #370)
SD = ?
TN > 213 (post #360)
**TX = 219<a href=“post%20#46,%20per%20principal;%20post%20#267,%20per%20GC”>/b</a> +4
UT = ?
VT = ?
VA <= 221 (post #446)
WA = ?
WV = ?
WI <= 209 (post #166, #191)
WY = ?</p>

<p>10(?) Boarding school regions
No scores reported yet.
These usually are set to be equal to the highest cut-off score among the individual states in the region.</p>

<p>Internationals=?
This usually is set to be equal to the highest cut-off score among all the individual states.</p>

<p>Commended (national cutoff) = 202 (Class of 2012 Notification Letters - College Confidential)
Any person with a score equal to or higher than this cutoff who is not a NMSF receives commended status. This group represents the highest 50,000 scorers.</p>

<p>We can’t call the NM offices and ask? Or will they not say until after news release is out on 9/14???</p>

<p>I called last year but now that I think about it …it was probably after the release.</p>

<p>I live in WI and scored a 212. I also happen to be incredibly impatient. Would it be improper, rude or anything of such nature to go to my GC and ask if she received anything. I know when the 5 of us in my class reached commended status they gathered some administration and made it a bigger deal than it really was. Regardless, I’m looking for opinion. My apologies for wavering from the thread topic.</p>

<p>JMoney, don’t know if you’ve been following the thread closely, but one of the reasons semifinalists don’t make finalist is failure of the school to deliver the packet and/or send in the completed information. Done in an appropriate manner, it’s in your best interests to stay on top of this.</p>

<p>You might mention to your principal or GC that you’ve noticed on the internet (darn that internet, can’t hide anything anymore) that Wisconsin kids have been receiving their National Merit Semifinalist notifications and that while the cutoff still isn’t known for certain, it’s apparently below your score. You might then ask with an anticipatory grin, “got anything for me?” Who could get upset at that? :)</p>

<p>I just sent an email to my D’s guidance counselors asking if they knew what LA cutoff score was…told her I saw on collegeconfidential.com that scores have been sent across country! She said she didn’t know anything…that I knew more than her…</p>

<p>Then she replied half hour later…she just received snail mail from NM and LA’s cutoff is 209 for Class of 2012. That is a decrease of one point…it was 210 last year.</p>

<p>I don’t think we’re sure that this student has actually received that $1k per year for years 2, 3, and 4.</p>

<p>NMFs are only allowed to receive ONE official NMF scholarship.</p>

<p>"So, for that student to get the $1k for years 2, 3, and 4, then the school would have to make that unofficial. "</p>

<p>"Just want to make sure here that your kid went to his/her 1st choice school (on the NMSC application) and got both the NMSC 2.5K and the school 1K scholarships, right? "</p>

<hr>

<p>Yes, she did list it first. Still waiting to see if the school, UNC - Chapel Hill, will give her the $1000 this year, her 2nd year there. I believe they will, so guess that makes it “unofficial” per mom2collegekids. Don’t know why that matters since the $1000 is coming from the school, not National Merit.</p>