<p>Son is a current junior. DS's PSATs are high enough that he should be a NMSF in our state. </p>
<p>However, I'm still somewhat confused about timing. We have received nothing in the mail about selecting top schools or saying he will move on in the competition. Do we just wait until August of senior year and assume everything is ok. We have already sent verifying SAT scores (I assume they don't confirm receiving those either). Just a nervous Mom making sure we haven't missed something.</p>
<p>I also know our HS missed the deadline for this years NMF, so I don't feel like I can count on them for information. Things worked out fine for the kids in the end, but guidance dep't has not been on top of things.</p>
<p>Mom24…Since your DS is a current junior, you would normally only be notified that your son is among the top 50,000 scorers on the PSAT and he would be able to notify some schools he selects (2 I believe, but I could be wrong) of achieving one of the top 50,000 scores. While that’s an achievement, it’s not a huge deal or in any way necessary since all it does it notify schools that your DS has an interest in them. It won’t impact anything regarding NMSF status or have any bearing on potential scholarships down the line. Many of the top 50K scorers don’t even bother to send in the “notification of interest” form, so if you don’t see it don’t feel like you missed an opportunity.</p>
<p>The next milestone will be after your DS starts his senior year. Usually sometime in September, his school will receive notification of the students who have exceeded the state cutoff and have been named NMSF. You can read through last year’s threads and see roughly what the timeline for those notifications are, as well as the “bracketing” process to nail down all the state cutoff scores. While it can take a while, CC’ers have become pretty proficient at getting the word out so check here frequently.</p>
<p>You’re already aware that uninformed/unaware high school guidance counselors, principals, etc. can often be the “long pole in the tent” when it comes to getting the NMSF paperwork package in. If you’ve already sent SAT scores to NMSC that’s one less thing to worry about. The “online” option for submitting NMSF paperwork was new last year, so there was a lot of growing pains involved for many schools. Hopefully your DS’s school will handle everything a little better next year. Given the potential amounts of scholarship money involved, I wouldn’t hesitate to make an appointment with the GC responsible for handling the paperwork and put a bug in their ear…especially if your DS’s PSAT score is comfortably above the historical levels for your state. You can always approach it as a “I’m trying to familiarize myself with the process” so the GC doesn’t feel like you’re questioning their knowledge.</p>
<p>In any case, there’s not really anything overly important for you to do or watch for until August or so when state cutoff score rumors start to trickle out. If anything, continue to research scholarship opportunities for NMF’s and maybe plan some additional college visit trips for this summer accordingly. Good Luck to you and your DS!!</p>