<p>I was very happy to get a 238 (78CR/80M/80W) on the PSAT and just received a letter from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. I searched a bit online and found that at a certain point in the contest, they check to see if your SAT scores match up with your PSAT scores, aka they don't want to see a decrease. I took the SAT in March and got a 231 (760CR/770M/780W). It's still a good score, but will they look unfavorably on the 70 point decrease?</p>
<p>Also, for anyone who received the letter this year or in years past, I have to choose and submit the two colleges by next Wednesday. What do they do with these two colleges? Can you still receive National Merit Scholarship offers from other schools? Is it worth it to submit these scores to schools that are reaches for everyone (such as Princeton and Stanford) or should I focus on schools I have a good shot at but might reject me because of a certain syndrome (such as Tufts and Wash U)? AM I OVERTHINKING THIS WHOLE THING?!?!?</p>
<p>yes, you’re definately overthinking. i was a national achievement scholar and it’s similar but my friend was a national merit scholar so i can answer your questions. 1. as long as there wasn’t a huge difference between your psat and sat scores (like 300-400 point difference), they will not care. they just ask for sat scores to make sure the psat is not a fluke. the two college thing is also not a big deal especially many people change their top 2 choices from may to november. you don’t even have to submit it until next year. it just notifies the college that you’re considering them. yes you can receive national merit scholarships from other schools. just calm down, test scores aren’t everything.</p>
<ol>
<li>No, the general consensus is that anything over 2000, good grades, and recommendation (no character issue or school record) from your school will make your a Finalist).</li>
<li>They notify these two schools that you have chosen them as your first choice.</li>
<li>You will receive offers mainly full rides from state schools/second tier privates. Yes, they will require you to change your school choice to them. But if you want to get the usually small ($1000-2000) scholarships from “top” schools (if available of course), you will have to make them your choice. [I only got to choose one, maybe it is different this year or I messed up]</li>
<li>Make sure the school you select has a program for NMF. No one can really tell you which two schools to choose. I chose a school (Rice) that I eventually did get in but am not going to, so choose carefully.</li>
</ol>
<p>noobcake is wrong about the school thing. At this point in the process you get to indicate to 2 schools that you are interested in them. You can select 2 or not, but it won’t have much impact on receiving a scholarship from any school. It essentially puts you on the mailing list as a student with strong test scores. </p>
<p>AFTER you become a semi-finalist, you will get the opportunity to choose ONE school as your first choice school. IF the school you name participates in the NM program and IF you enroll there you will get whatever scholarships they provide for NM finalists. The nice part is you don’t have to select a first choice school until after you know where you have been accepted.</p>
<p>Be very afraid ssnalp, that 2310 is really iffy. You realize, that’s above the median SAT for every school in the counttry, and above the 75th %ile for all but a couple.</p>
<p>I put down a college for the top school blank (one that’s on their list) and I think it turned out that when you get the scholarship, it comes from that school only. I heard from people who didnt put down a top college (or one that isn’t on the list) that you get $1000 for whatever college.</p>
<p>If you enroll in a participating NM school and did not name them as your top choice during your senior year, you will not receive a scholarship from them. There are 2 other ways to get NM money. Approx. 2500 finalists are named NM scholars and are awarded $2500 to apply to any school they choose. Also, there are companies that provide money to NM finalists, usually to the children of employees, that can also be used at any school. However, each finalist can only receive one award.</p>
You realize, that’s above the median SAT for every school in the counttry, and above the 75th %ile for all but a couple.</p>