<p>Thanks, Amelia, for the info and advice. I agree, it's an incredibly byzantine process. </p>
<p>My kids received their letters in the mail in NMS envelopes, but they were mailed from the school, I believe, because the postage meter carries the school's ZIP code. So check with your GC --he/she must be sitting on them.</p>
<p>My son got a 231 in the PSAT, we live in Florida, haven't received the letter yet. Getting frustated! University of Florida where he plans to attend gives $25,000 to all the Finalists. I really want to know if we have a little chance of getting to the final stage.</p>
<p>echi, I was getting frustrated, too, and called national merit corp and they said they send the letters to the principal of the school. Finally, yesterday, my junior s got his letter from his headmaster. I'll bet your s will get his soon, maybe even today.</p>
<p>Thanks, Heidi. Interestingly, the head of the CC program had a meeting with parents last week and told us that kids would not be notified til the fall of their senior year! What's up with that?</p>
<p>It is very confusing, but here is what we went through (our son is a graduating senior):</p>
<p>Last year (junior), S took the PSAT. In April (2004) we received a letter (directly at home) saying that he was one of the top scorers (approx 55,000). It did not say anything about Semi-finalist or Commended. He was also asked to provide the names of two schools he was interested in.</p>
<p>In September or October, his high school was notified of those that had made Semi-Finalist. They then had additional things that they had to do to become Finalists. In DECEMBER, notices to the high school came for the Commended students. This included letters/certificates for each individual student.</p>
<p>My son was Commended, but still has not received his letter from the school. They are holding that until Senior Awards Night (in May), but notification was announced in the school's newsletter.</p>
<p>echosensai, if my s finally got his letter, yours will, too. :-)
Post when you get it!</p>
<p>Heidi, I am glad your son got his letter....that gives me hope that my son might get his soon.</p>
<p>Post when your s gets it, echi! I wish we lived in Florida... Those scholarship programs for NM finalists are really great. Only 2 of last year's senior class of 70 at my kids' school went to a state school, so we don't have great options in that respect.</p>
<p>WOW! 70? My son's senior class has 1,150 students. We are the 5th largest H.S in the country. Maybe that is why he hasn't received the letter...can you imagine sorting all that mail!!
I wanted him to go out of state but between the Florida Bright Future paying for tuition (because of good grades) and U.F offering him the Honors Program plus the $25,000 if he makes it to finalist....it is a really good option.</p>
<p>heidi, it isn't necessary to reside in Florida for your S to take advantage of UF's generous NMF offer. We live in Louisiana, and my S has chosen to go to UF in part due to their fantastic NMF scholarship.
UF waives out of state tuition for NMF and then gives so much $$$ that it's nearly a free ride. Here is a link to see about the scholarship in detail:
<a href="http://www.ufsa.ufl.edu/SFA/programs/UFacademic.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ufsa.ufl.edu/SFA/programs/UFacademic.html</a></p>
<p>
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U.F offering him the Honors Program plus the $25,000 if he makes it to finalist....it is a really good option.
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<p>Could be why UF has the 2nd most NM scholars in the country. Ya think?</p>
<p>I just wanted to let everybody know that after finally calling GC this morning and calling CB, D is high scorer and will be notified by school, etc. If you remember the situation, most of high school burned abt 2 weeks ago. I think they've had more things on their mind than NM, but....since D is only one affected in this school (yes, we're rural and in the South), they are actually being really nice about it all.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice and encouragement on this site. It really helps.</p>
<p>wow, swmbo, where are all the students going to school now? In a neighboring high school? How'd the school happen to burn down? My sympathies to you and your d, it must just throw everyone and everything completely off.<br>
Congrats on your d being the high scorer! Let us know when she finally gets the letter!</p>
<p>I am another anxious mom whose S has not received his letter from his private school GC. He scored a 212 in Missouri, so he should be receiving his letter anyday. I have considered calling the school, but S would prefer I "chill". </p>
<p>Anyone have any info on Missouri cutoff?</p>
<p>runmanstl, I found this. It is a chart from 2003 from when my S took the PSAT. The numbers may vary by a point or two each year. However, for 2002 and 2003, our state stayed the same. It may give you an idea of the approximate score. Good luck!!</p>
<p>can someone plz tell me if i send my scores to upenn seas/cornell/jhu... will they notice?</p>
<p>The letter goes to the school, and is given to students by their guidance counselors. As long as your child got at least a 202, your child will be getting a letter as will more than 50,000 other high scores.</p>
<p>Depending on how busy your GC is (and some now are still being swamped by sobbing seniors who were rejected by all colleges), your child will eventually get the letter. </p>
<p>My S definitely qualified but has not gotten his yet, and I saw his GC today. I didn't even bother to ask her about it because I know she's swamped with AP tests and other major things.</p>
<p>This is my second time going through this. My kids are 4 years apart and scored exactly the same on the PSAT. </p>
<p>I do not suggest that a kid designate a school like HPY because those schools probably are the top choices of thousands of those high scores. It is not a big deal to those schools, and there's no evidence that those schools track such students. Such schools also will not be impressed if your kid makes National Merit because the colleges are flooded with such applicants.</p>
<p>My advice is to select schools that are likely to be safety or good match schools and that also may give merit aid.</p>
<p>If your kid is on the low end of the qualifying scores and is likely to be commended, please be aware that it's a big deal. I am always amazed here to see students who seem to feel that Commended is something that is meaningless.</p>
<p>Some colleges do give scholarships for Commended students. Use a search engine to find some or use the search function on CC as several months ago, I posted a list on the scholarship board. There also are about 1,000 Commended students who get scholarships from National Merit. I am not sure, but I think those scholarships may be related to where parents' work.</p>
<p>Finally, my understanding is that the schools will get the certificates for commended students in Aug. or so. However, some schools, like my sons', choose to hold onto those certificates until the award ceremonies at the end of the school year, so don't worry if your kid doesn't get theirs immediately.</p>
<p>National Merit semi-finalists are announced in the fall. Finalists are announced in Feb. of senior year or so.</p>
<p>And really finally: If your child is HIspanic or African American and designated that on the PSAT, your child may qualify for National Hispanic or National Achievement (for black students) scholarships.</p>
<p>I think that National Hispanic scholars are announced spring of junior year. From what I can figure out, the qualifying index score is around 180 or higher. I can't remember what "qualifies" a student as Hispanic, but one can find that info by using a search engine for that scholarship. The scholarship-awarding agency does check with the student's school about the veracity of the ethnic info.</p>
<p>The qualifying score for National Achievement Scholars is around 190. Semi-finalists are announced in the fall. Finalists are based on gpa and SATs.</p>
<p>Many colleges including University of Florida give very nice scholarships for National Hispanic and National Achievement scholars.</p>
<p>according to that chart 222 cutoff for maryland =( but only 202 for other states...... kind of unfair</p>
<p>If you look at the chart you do note significant variation from one year to the next, ie in Tennessee the cutoff went from 213 in the previous year to 216 this year. My senior S made a 215, so was Commended. This ultimately was not a big issue, though, as I think the schools he was looking at are more concerned with the actual score than the status of Semi-finalist or Commended. (None give big bucks for NM.) It surely didn't hurt him to have been commended, as he had many good choices. </p>
<p>Parents of Commended students, the colleges look at so many different factors! This is just one part of a very big picture.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link...but, now I wished I had not seen it as it apppears that S. has missed semi-finalist by 1 point. Ouch.</p>