@APedison You can relax, no way is the cutoff going up 5 points in one year. Congratulations to your daughter! (Although we were the same last year and didn’t believe it until we actually saw his name)
I’m confused. Why do the commended names come out later than the SF names? Don’t we already know if our kids are commended or not? SI of 211 or more?
@P85047 I was thinking the same thing…or maybe the person posting does not really know the difference.
Our principal has received a booklet in years past.
@collegework How do we know what the qualifying SAT score SI is?? I have read lots that indicated qualifying SAT Is could be anywhere rom 205-211? thx.
Yes, all students above SI 211 know that they at least made Commended. Receiving the official Commended letter is NMSC’s way of saying “Sorry, you didn’t win the grand prize.” They notify the NMSFs first, then the students who did not make the cut.
Commended students are always announced after semifinalist
http://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=424
Hey friends! I have a dumb question that may keep everyone entertained until the end of the week when we may possibly begin hearing about NMSF. Here goes: My son is a 217 in AL with an SAT Index of 210 I think. SO that is that. I have been wondering this: I suppose if he makes NMSF he will have opportunities for Full rides at several schools across the US, right? Or is it NMF when that kicks in? That being said, I guess he needs to apply to college where he MIGHT get a potential full ride if he makes finalist right? For example, his top choice is GA Tech but Mississippi State and University of AL (all branches) give Full rides. Is that for NMSF or NMF?? We will know NMF by…what April? May? If it is later in May when will we know if he gets a full ride and will it be too late to commit for scholarships if it is after the traditional May 1st deadline? I have seen a May 10 deadline for NMSC but was not sure if that was a finalist deadline or something else. Thanks and I am happily out on the ledge with you! Good luck to everyone!
I have the same question @amyandscott
My D thinks she may need to retake SAT with a SI of 220, and i am unsure where to get answer for her.
NMF announced in early Feb.
If/when your son makes NMSF, he should contact the NMF liaison at his schools of interest to clue them in (they get a list but don’t wait for that). Also, put on any applications and for any that have already been submitted, update Admissions pronto.
The way it works for most uni’s giving substantial merit aid is that those who make NMF who also list the school as their FIRST CHOICE by the notification date, will be eligible. Lots of time to figure out what all that means so don’t worry about that for now. Instructions will be handed out with the NMSF notification and will be on the NMSC portal.
@Apedison - if that SI of 220 is her SAT, it has cleared the confirming score min. by a long shot. She may need to retake her SAT’s for other reasons, but not in order to establish a better confirming score.
@amyandscott
Also, note the distinction between “full ride” and “full tuition”.
Those who are unsure of their child’s SAT score (whether it qualifies as a confirming score) need only calculate the SI. If 211 or higher, that should clear since 211 is the commended number and some states will have that as a cut-off. If, say, 206-210, call NMSC once the press release date is passed, and ask them. You can share the SI with them - if they are not disclosing the exact confirming score yet, they should still be able to tell you whether your kid’s score meets the hurdle.
@APedison A 220 SAT SI will be plenty high. The SI they’ll need is somewhere around the Commended SI, so 220 is way above that.
@amyandscott The 210 SI seems near the cutoff, does he have plans to retake it? Given the scholarship stakes, it seems prudent to do so just in case. Most of the big scholarships are for NMF. Most of those will not be full rides, but full tuition plus sometimes a year of housing and/or a stipend. You will know whether he is a finalist in early February, I think it was about Feb 8 this year. Universities will be sent the lists at that time. The April-May dates you’re thinking of are awards directly from NMSC. Also, the date to tell NMSC of your first choice school is usually May1, but some schools are much earlier. List of NMSF and NMF scholarships (may not be 100% up to date):
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
And just to clarify something from post #790: when I say NMF and FIRST CHOICE by “Notification Date” I do NOT mean NMSF notification. I’m referring to a list that NMSC releases to the uni’s beginning March 1. As I said prior, lots of time to figure all this out. You will see when you log-in to your NM portal that you’ll have an opportunity to list your first choice school.
@amyandscott This list is out of date and many of the actual scholarship have changed but it should give you a general idea about which schools give awards for NMSF and which give awards for NMF
“Also, the date to tell NMSC of your first choice school is usually May1, but some schools are much earlier.”
Some schools also say “by the notification date” or similar language (which means you refer to NMSC’s instructions). The first date is actually 3/1 and those who definitely know their first choice should just plan to update their portal once they have learned of NMF status in February and move on to studying for their AP’s and firming up their grad party plans 
Those who are still mulling over offers and need March/April to decide should make sure their portal is updated for the May 1 list.
Also, all of you are really excited for the full-tuition and full-rides, etc. (as you should be) but don’t forget that there is the NMSC scholarship money as well. A pittance, perhaps, compared to the university’s merit awards. But for someone considering a top elite (known for their stinginess w/r/t merit aid) those NMSC scholarships might mean you don’t have to do as much work-study. That’s the case for my kid Every little bit helps.
@amyandscott If your DS makes the NMSF cut-off for your state, and if he does not have any Cs on his transcript and/or any disciplinary action in his school record, then I believe you’re fairly safe in assuming your DS will advance to NMF in Feb 2018 - assuming he submits all his NMSC paperwork in time and sends his qualifying SAT score to NMSC by the deadline.
Our DS1 (HS Class of 2015) DID have 1 C on his transcript, so we were unsure as to whether or not he’d advance from NMSF to NMF. Because of that, he had 2 college lists: List A was comprised of colleges that he could envision himself attending that offered at least free tuition for NMF. This list included OU (which has since significantly reduced its NMF scholarship and would not be on our list anymore) and Univ of Alabama, among others. List B was comprised of colleges that would award him merit scholarships based on his SAT score and GPA. (There was overlap between List A and List B.) Since we would not know DS’s NMF status until Feb of his senior year, he applied to all schools on both lists - which is not something for the faint of heart. In the end, he did advance to NMF and committed to his college (with a NM Scholarship from the college) the last week in April of his senior year.
Our DS2 (HS Class of 2018) doesn’t have GPA or disciplinary concerns, so IF he makes the cut-off for our state, we’re going to “assume” he will advance to NMF. He will only have one college list in that case.
For each college your DS is interested in, you’ll need to visit the respective college’s website to research what is offered for NMF. You/your DS may need to contact his admissions counselor at those colleges if you have any questions. In some cases, NMSFs can receive scholarships from a college, but I think those are few and far between.
If your DS advances to NMSF in the next few weeks, he will know his NMF status by sometime in mid-Feb 2018. That will give him until the last week of April 2018 (prior to May 1) to make his college decision and commit to the college, as well as “declare” the college via NMSC’s online portal. Instructions for “what to do” will be sent to your DS by NMSC if he advances to NMSF.
It’s important to note that many colleges have early deadlines for institutional scholarships and special programs, honors colleges, etc. So your DS should keep moving forward with his college apps and not “wait around” for news of NMF. My DS is going to wait to submit apps until after he knows his NMSF status (and hopefully we will ALL have this information by the end of this week). Technically, the student cannot list NMSF on a college application until the official NMSC release date in mid-Sept 2017, so also bear that in mind.
Hope this helps! It has been a while since I’ve ridden in this rodeo, so maybe others will chime in with key info I’ve forgotten.
@DavidPuddy Yes when I say all ride I mean EVERYTHING.