<p>What are the postmarks on the letters? I’m curious whether or not they went out on the same day.</p>
<p>Postmark on DS’s letter is Jan 9.</p>
<p>Just got my rejection letter today, postmarked the 9th. Somewhat expected it with my GPA; 4 Cs in 10th grade, though I clawed myself up in junior and senior year. Was hoping the 224 PSAT and 2330 SAT would save me, but I guess I’m not too surprised. A little bit more devastated than I was expecting to feel though :/</p>
<p>Does anyone know what grading scale the National Merit Corp uses? My son’s school considers 93-100 an A, 85-92 a B, 76-84 a C, 70-75 a D & 69 and below an F. My son has a couple of 84s on his transcript, which we consider Cs. However, the more I read on these boards the more I am beginning to think that other schools use a different scale and that his 84s would be considered Bs elsewhere. </p>
<p>So, when NMC sees the 84, will they see a B or a C? </p>
<p>So sorry for those of you that have received letters, but it does not diminish your extraordinary accomplishment in any way!</p>
<p>Thanks for any insight you can offer.</p>
<p>Any letters received on either coast yet? Without naming locations or states, has anyone in the east or the west received a rejection letter yet? I’m on one coast, a friend lives on the other coast, and we’re both reading these CC posts and wondering just how high the finalist bar has been set. Thanks.</p>
<p>Denise, what does your son’s transcript show? Just the score? Score and letter grade? My son’s transcript just shows the letter grade.</p>
<p>@SoccrPlayr: East coast here, if that helps!</p>
<p>Denise, usually a transcript either shows a letter grade, or has a legend at the bottom that shows the translation. If not, then you might get lucky… because without that, I do think they would assume an 84 was a B. 
Good luck!</p>
<p>The transcript shows only number grades. It has 1st semester, 2nd semester, & final grade…all shown numerically.</p>
<p>Letter grade are only mentioned at the bottom in a little box for “Grading Scale Information”.</p>
<p>So… does that little box show the ranges you mentioned? If it does, they will look at it and see that those are considered "C"s at your school. I don’t think they would say, “Oh, that is a tough curve, let’s call them Bs instead.” It would be nice… but I sort of think they won’t do that. Maybe he will still be okay, though. I usually like going to check them mail myself, but am starting to dread it this week now that I found this thread.</p>
<p>intparent, you aren’t the only one avoiding the mailbox. For the last few days, I’ve been sending my little brother and the dog out to get the mail.</p>
<p>Yes intparent, I understand! I never thought the mailbox could create this much anxiety for our family!</p>
<p>Is it possible that “too many” Semifinalists were named and the numbers just aren’t breaking in favor of the borderline cases? Can someone with more experience on this issue maybe weigh in? I know it won’t change anything, but this is starting to look like a case where students and parents who didn’t advance should be comparing our situation to others that got rejected, and realize this might have been a highly competitive year. Does the old “only about 1,000 don’t advance” rule not apply this year? Are certain states advancing less than students than in past years? This is very frustrating to see what appear to be “shoe-ins” from the past not advancing. Just looking for some answers.</p>
<p>The number of semifinalists for each state is an apriori set number. It is what determines the cutoff scores, not the other way around. So, no, I don’t think there would be more semifinalists. Maybe they have just decided to set the bar higher for some reason which would affect the percentage of semifinalist who make finalist. Maybe it is a reputation thing, There have been comments about NMF’s with lower GPA’s getting significantly better scholarships than kids with higher GPA’s and similar SAT scores. If this is true, then the minimum SAT score may change in the future also but at this point, this is all just speculation.</p>
<p>This happens all of the time. This is also why NMF achievement does not mean all that much in the most selective college admissions, and many schools have stopped giving automatic NMF scholarships—THIS meaning kids with the high test scores but with grades that aren’t going to survive any ivy lookie see. In my day to be a NMS or even NMF meant a lot of great scholarship offers and a lot of selective schools would add to the NMS awards so that we got full 4 year rides at times. No more. The dollar amounts of the NMS awards have not gone up either. It’s a great designation to get, don’t get me wrong, I am very proud of my one son who did get this, but it’s no auto ticket anymore and to lose out on it is not such a loss as it once was. </p>
<p>For all these reading this, do find out exactly how your students transcript is going to look to colleges when it is sent out if it isn’t too late. It is important to know exactly what the admissions directors are seeing and the scholarships committees. You might be surprised. Also make sure you know exactly which senior grades, and how they are presented are being sent to the colleges.</p>
<p>*They seem to be quite a bit tighter this year. I have already talked to one kid who got a rejection letter today and he only had one C and one C+ for semester grades and a 2350 on SATs. His mom called Nat Merit and they gave boilerplate about “highest academic standards” and that his grades had not met it- so this year, two Cs are not enough. He had no discipline issues, a counselor rec, submitted the SATs on time, etc.
*</p>
<p>It may not have been simply the “two Cs’”…it may also have been “too many B’s”. Two Cs may have been tolerable, if the rest were all A’s and maybe one B.</p>
<p>So, I 'm jumping into this discussion thread a little behind, but to clarify: Rejection letters have already been sent out? Throughout the country? When will Finalists be notified? Will they be notified at home and is that before or after the school is notified? Thanks for helping the “remedial” parent!</p>
<p>I read that schools are notified of finalists standing on 1/31 and students notified at home a few days later. </p>
<p>I wonder if all rejection letters are sent out at the same time or if they trickle out throughout the month? Someone here said that NM said that they can go out all month, but in years past, it seems that they’ve gone out around the same time, and if you didn’t one my mid-January, you were ok.</p>
<p>Anyone receive a letter today?</p>
<p>Also, do colleges get the NMF lists the same time the high schools do?</p>
<p>I know that some Texas Semi-finalists received letters postmarked on 1/9, the same date mentioned on other recent posts.</p>