<p>From the NMSC document linked to in post #487:
I think when WestIllinoisMom and most of the rest of us speak of NMSF -> NMF being practically automatic to all who take care of business, we tacitly assume there isn’t a problem with ol’ #4. If the right person at your school has it in for you, you are hurt. I think that’s the scenario OhioMom3000 has in mind.</p>
<p>[News:</a> Blow to National Merit Scholarships - Inside Higher Ed](<a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/09/01/merit]News:”>http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/09/01/merit)</p>
<p>Did anyone see this article from a few years back - comments are interesting and most recent is from this past April.</p>
<p>Steve is right…</p>
<p>Students who have discipline issues and/or GPA issues do not make NMF. </p>
<p>And, we had a student who didn’t make it because he wrote a sarcastic essay about the meaningless of the PSAT/NMF issue. :(</p>
<p>However, if you “dot your i’s and cross your t’s” and you don’t have any school/discipline issues…you will make NMF.</p>
<p>Just make sure you send your SAT to NMCorp #0085…and check with your school to make sure they’ve done their part.</p>
<p>BTW…when I say “discipline issue”…I don’t mean a detention for being tardy…I mean suspensions, etc…serious issues.</p>
<p>I qualified in Michigan with a 215 
I haven’t gotten the info from my principal yet but it was in my local paper today. We have 6 NMSF’s which might be the record for my school haha (last year there were 3) out of a class of 224. My friend got a 209 which was the cutoff last year but it rose to 210 so he just missed it.</p>
<p>@SteveC I can assure you, it was not a disciplinary issue. This was a prestigious school and I got the impression that they were very selective about which students they would endorse. Student was in good standing academically, so that was not it. Student may not have been as qualified as others, though, in the school’s eyes. But student had high enough stats, etc, to be accepted to U of C. I’m just saying, it is probably extremely rare, but in this case, high achieving well-behaved student did not make it</p>
<p>^^^That is bordering on criminal or at the very least ethically bankrupt. For a school, who has been paid private tuition by the family, to deny a qualified student the opportunity for an academic honor is awful. While it’s great that she is at U of C & since they don’t give NMF scholarships anyway, I suppose it doesn’t matter, but what if she’d changed her mind? In my D’s case, that would have been a $108,000 mistake!</p>
<p>OhioMom3000 – I wasn’t the one who said it was a disciplinary issue. I said, “If the right person at your school has it in for you …” This can take many forms, very few of which are justified, in my mind.</p>
<p>^^ My S missed NMSF by a few points, but a while back, I mentioned to the student’s mother that I was hopeful, although I knew he would be borderline. She said, as if common practice, he still may not get Finalist, if he gets NMSF. She then told me what happened to her child. I know this family very well and have known student since birth and this is an exemplary kid. At the same time I have to believe what happened there is extremely rare.</p>
<p>^^ I believe your description of your friend’s kid is 100% accurate and that what you said is what happened. I would like to believe that it’s rare, too. Sadly, we should probably add (borrowing from RobD) “assuming the absence of ethical bankruptcy on the part of your school’s administration” to our list of caveats when we say NMSF -> NMF is practically automatic.</p>
<p>I must apologize for impeding in the discussion that seems to be going on here.</p>
<p>I’ve met the cutoff for my state and my school has still not received any notification. I wasn’t “commended” in April either despite my scoring past the cutoff.</p>
<p>Should I call NMSC or wait a few more days?</p>
<p>I’d have called after I didn’t get the April letter. There are a few posts in this forum from people who had to call and straighten out some problem or other.</p>
<p>Texaspg (or anyone else) - Do you have a link to the names of semifinalists in Texas?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>@pamayawaa I did a quick search but it seems Texas news releases are done by county. What county are you in? I saw news releases for Fort Bend, Houston, Katy, Midland.</p>
<p>@hope2help Good luck to your daughter too. I hope we hear soon! It would be nice to add it to his Early Applications but waiting to hear the official news. If your DD missed the OH cutoff by only one point she and my S should both make it. The NHRP cutoff was less than the commended cutoff the past few years.</p>
<p>Thanks. We are interested in Ellis County and/or greater Dallas area. I’ll keep checking.</p>
<p>@Youdon’tsay
Thanks for the feedback. So it sounds like they send the schools the names a few weeks later than the NMSFs. Hopefully we’ll hear soon then.</p>
<p>@ pamayawaa Your local papers don’t seem to be posting. =( I did a quick search but couldn’t find anything.</p>
<p>We haven’t seen anything in the news here yet either.</p>
<p>pamayawaa - smilldeb is correct. I have nt come across one yet for all of the state but lots of individual announcements. I have seen Houston area, fortbend, montgomery county, clear lake etc as separate announcements. There will be a database that will show up soon somewhere but only newspaper announcements so far. i will look for Dallas/Ellis county.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what Confirming SAT scores might be?
My D in NYC had 220 on PSAT and 35 on ACT which I see they will not use to confirm.
Trying to decide whether to pressure her to take it. We thought she was done with tests, but it would be nice to be a finalist if she doesn’t have to do to much for the SAT.</p>
<p>Do they have SAT confirmation score cutoffs too? What SAT score is good enought to confirm a 220 PSAT?</p>