National Merit

Paying for College
1

This probably was posted somewhere previously, but couldn’t find it.

Now that I’m a semifinalist for NMS, I was wondering what they look at to choose the finalists.
I’m guessing GPA, APs, SAT score, and the short essay.

But GPA is subjective (some schools are less prone to giving good grades, especially private schools) and so are APs (some schools just don’t offer em). I doubt they account for the case for each school. So then what would be the most important factor?

2

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1365011-faq-for-the-psat-sat-nmsf-nmf-process-p1.html

3

It is simpler than you thought. Most of the SF will become finalist unless they get a very low grade or cannot get a qualifying SAT score which is mostly easier than getting the PSAT score above the cut off for NMSF.

4

Qualifying SAT score and another essay. Follow the rules.

5

http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2015/09/14/the-national-merit-journey-what-you-need-to-know-part-one/