I’m going to say… a lot of the time it seems more painful for the parents than the kid, maybe because you have a clearer view of the pocketbook impact. Kids seem to shrug it off faster. Here’s hoping no one gets any mail from them today!
GC responded that only final grades are reported to NMSC. Don’t know what to believe anymore. @goaskdad I feel guilty even being on this thread with you because we are fortunate in that we do have alternatives if S doesn’t advance. I think I’m more nervous for your S than ours! Praying that the postal service is kind to all of us today.
I have been following this thread with great interest because DS is a NMSF with three semester C+'s. Semester grades are the only type shown on the transcript at his small, highly academic private school in northern CA. His qualifying SAT is high (2290), essay probably quite good and the GC will have done everything right. It’s all down to whether those C+'s (one each year in freshman, sophomore and junior years) will rule him out. Waiting for something NOT to come in the mail is definitely harder than waiting for something to arrive!
Adding you to our list of prayers and angst @mesdeuxgarcons.
Welcome to the nervous NMSF community, @mesdeuxgarcons. I hope your son makes it. Do you have big plans that include NMF money?
@albert69, YOU win the prize for coining the perfect phrase that sums up the spirit of this thread: The Nervous NMSF Community! Props to you - because I think that’s the name by which we will be known henceforth on this thread.
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GC responded that only final grades are reported to NMSC. Don't know what to believe anymore. @goaskdad I feel guilty even being on this thread with you because we are fortunate in that we do have alternatives if S doesn't advance. I think I'm more nervous for your S than ours! Praying that the postal service is kind to all of us today
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Now that makes more sense…less writing if only writing the year end classes. However! That would still be a LOT of writing for the GCs at that famous school that typically has 100+ NMSFs every year!
But it would explain WHY one C in a health class could be a killer…that would be a year-end grade for a semester-length class.
(I’m sure that some who are sweating it out are thinking…hey, homeschooling NMSFs likely do not face this …)
@mom2collegekids, I have the actual 2010 NMSC application right in front of me, and I promise you that’s how it is set up. Nowhere does it ask for a transcript. There is much for the school to complete, including the grades for the student. The school would only enter quarter grades IF the school were on the quarter system and those quarter grades counted in the GPA, because those ARE the students final grades in the grading period. We are on semesters, so only semester grades are counted. Some schools apparently count only the end of the school year grade, so that’s all that school would enter. Even if the school entered Cs for quarter grades but the final grade is not a C, I think that would be clear based on how the form looks. I suspect it is exactly the same now except that the school can enter it online.
The counselor is also required to submit a rec letter and answer questions about the NMSF, such as how the student ranks in ECs and personal qualities and character (below average, average, above average, very good, excellent, outstanding). There is a place to enter class rank and number tied at that rank, GPA and whether it is weighted or not, etc. So the counselor has lots of work to do, especially if they have 100 NMSFs!
Let’s just don’t all break-up after this is over, OK? 
@barfly wow…thanks.
Yes, I knew about all the other stuff that they have to complete. But to have to hand-enter all the classes and each quarter grade is crazy!
I wonder why my kids’ school only provided year-end grades when it is on the quarter system. I guess a school can just go maverick and do that and what is NMCorp going to know or say abut it?
@Barfly does it give any direction as to what to list as a class? Our school does not allow summer classes, on-line classes or DE classes to figure in for GPA. Does it say anything about how to list credit for exam tests? Those show up on transcripts as a semester course but again they aren’t used for GPA and they aren’t really classes.
I would also wonder how “exact” does a GC have to be when typing in ALL those classes. Can she just put Chem…instead of AP Chem or Honors Chem
I did confirm that the document I “thought” was my DS’s transcript is, in fact, the transcript. However, if the GC doesn’t send in the actual transcript, then the GC sends in a list of grades, @Barfly? Is that what your post above means? (I think it does, but my brain is basically mush at this point.)
My DS ended Soph Chem w/a C, having earned a B in the first semester. If our HS only reports “year end” grades, then my DS is toast. If our HS reports grades by semester, as seen on the transcript, then perhaps DS would have more of a fighting chance. The class in-question was not even an honors course, though it was an accelerated study of chemistry. All I can hope/pray is that DS’s other grades in science counterbalanced that C. But there’s no way to know.
Every day that goes by without a letter, I’m grateful. (I’m also losing my mind in the process, but that’s beside the point.) However, it did not help that in last week’s mail we got 2 seemingly important letters for 2 different addresses similar to ours. So even if a letter does not come, and I’m praying it does not, I have no assurance that it wasn’t actually sent.
Mail should be here by 5PM CT.
Yep, @mom2collegekids, it’s crazy. But just think of all the other crazy things the counselors have to do! My son has been applying for scholarships. Most recent one required an application for him to do, 3 rec letters, and an official transcript, all scanned and submitted. And it must be all sent together in one email in a very specific format with a very specific coded name on the email. Since the transcript is only “official” if it comes directly from the school, the counselor is expected to scan and email the whole mess of it exactly as required, while also dealing with someone else’s kid who was smoking weed in the parking lot. Think I’ll keep my own job!
OK, Ya’ll. I will look at the form and try to give you as much info as I can. It will take a while. Wish I could scan it for you!
Hmm, I had just assumed all along that the actual transcript was sent. Now I’m confused, and not sure what my GC submitted. I can only take comfort in the fact that my principal worked with her to complete this application, and he recently came from a school that has a clue. That, and the clean mailbox check today.
So if the actual transcript doesn’t go, would the class rank manage to get there? I would feel better knowing they had that info!
Here it is. The 2010 form was actual paper, 7 pages.
The first pages were for the Semifinalist to complete, so that part is now done online. The principal must “endorse” the NMSF.
Then there was a page where there was room for a one-half page rec letter from “the principal or designated school official”. At the bottom of that page, the school had to check Most Rigorous, Very Rigorous, Average or Below Average for “the applicant’s course selection”. Then the school had to check one of the categories Below average, Average, Above average, Very good (top 10%), Excellent (top 5%) or Outstanding (top 1%), for “Academic Achievement”, “Extracurricular Accomplishments” and “Personal Qualities and Character”.
Next was a page asking Cumulative GPA, scale of GPA, whether GPA is weighted, Class rank and class size, how many are tied for that rank, and “# of Terms included in GPA” The rest of the page is for grades. Stick with me here. There are 5 columns: First Column: “List Course Work Taken. Indicate any completed in college. Please do not abbreviate.” Second Column: “Identify honors or accelerated courses”. Third Column: “Grade 9. Grades earned. Use only those TERMS that apply. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. 4th. Final.” Fourth Column: “Grade 10 (same stuff)”. Fifth Column: “Grade 11 (same stuff)”. Then the Rows running down the left side are “English” with spaces for up to 5 courses, “Mathematics” with spaces for up to 5 courses, “Science” with spaces for up to 5 courses, “Social Studies” with spaces for up to 4 courses, “Foreign Language” with spaces for up to 4 courses, and “Other Subjects” with spaces for up to 5 courses.
The last page has High School Profile Information where the school had to check whether private, public or home school, grading system, the highest course offered in each subject, whether Honors, AP, IB or Accelerated/Other courses are offered, and percent of students who go to college. Then there is a place to enter the senior year courses, whether they are honors or accelerated, and how many terms the course will be taken. There is NO WHERE to enter any senior year grades. There is a place to check if the student has failed any terms in grades 9-11, then a place to “Explain any instances of poor academic performance that you feel are the direct result of extraordinary circumstances”.
Th-th-th-that’s All, Folks!
Is it possible that the school could ignore all that and just send a transcript?
Yes, @PAMom21, the class rank had to be put in on Page 6 along with the other info listed in my looooooooong post above!
One more thing - let’s say a student had a few Cs, but the counselor checked that the student took a very rigorous set of courses, or the class rank was way up there, or the ECs were excellent. I think that would be counted in the student’s favor. I think the NMSC must look more deeply than just the actual number of C grades because, as we have seen on CC, there are discrepancies as to how many Cs are safe.