<p>My junior daughter is a likely NMSF which is wonderful. Her GPA is 4.17 W/3.75 US. She has excellent extracurricular activities, service hours, and letters of recommendation. Her SAT and ACT scores correspond to her PSAT performance. She has dual enrolled at the local community college since her sophomore year.</p>
<p>We are concerned, however, because her transcript will contain four C's. All are in Honors classes and do not reflect the Honors point. They are from 10th grade and fall of 11th grade when her dad and I got divorced. Additonally, her school has a more stringent grading scale than other schools in our region, and these would have been B's at our local public school.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on how to increase her odds of not being rejected from becoming a finalist? She is very interested in Kentucky, Alabama, and Auburn which offer significant NMF scholarships.</p>
<p>My D received NMF notification letter today. Her high school transcript only has year-end grades. She had one year-end C grade in 9th grade. Based on past posts, unfortunately it seems āmore than oneā C (regardless of whether they are semester/quarter/year grades) on the transcript seem to be a negative. There really isnāt much you can do at this point except to not get any more Cs and hope for the best.</p>
<p>First of all, congrats to your DD on a great PSAT score, as well as validating SAT & ACT scores. Iāve been reading up on this issue a bit myselfā¦because DS has one semester āCā in a class from 10th - & thereās a reason for that -but it may be beside-the-point for NMF. Based upon what Iām reading, even one āCā could be an issue.</p>
<p>However, Iāve also learned that some schools will award very generous scholarships based on SAT & ACT scores. Hopefully some more experienced posters will chime-in here, but I gather that SAT & ACT scores can result in great scholarship opportunities, regardless of NMS status. </p>
<p>And I do wonder about students from those schools with different grading systems. There are a few privates in our area where an āAā is something like a 93%, and a āCā is more likely under those circumstances. (An āAā at our HS is 90%.) It seems unfair to those students at schools with tougher grading scales.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your DD and I hope others will join this discussion to give you further insight.</p>
<p>Some high schools,like ours, have a means of retaking classes with a grade below āAā. This is only helpful if the new grade actually replaces the old one. If the GPA adjusts, but both grades remain on transcript for NMSC to see, it doesnāt help as last year people reported in a similar situation getting rejected anyway. 4 is a lot to repeat, and not much time left. You could beg to substitute summer courses and evening courses that are roughly equivalent and have old grades expunged, telling about the financial aspects. Only if you are serious about the NMF schools and the money is a big issue for getting her to college. Because this will be a lot of work for your D. She needs to get rid of at least 3 of those 'Cās, and all 4 would be better. The number of 'Cās tolerated seems to vary from year to year. </p>
<p>Iād like to clear up some stuff about this āmore than one Cā theory. First and foremost, a āCā by itself should not disqualify you from the NMSF to NMF process. </p>
<p>My transcript is one of those that shows all quarter, semester, and final grades. So, naturally, thereās probably over 200 grades shown on my transcript. This includes 4 "C"s (three quarter and one semester), and a few more āBā grades. Sure, itās mostly āAā grades, but the point is I have more than one āC.ā And Iām a finalist. </p>
<p>No, nothing else wouldāve saved my application ā my essay was decent, my extracurriculars are very average, my leadership is nothing special for students of such caliber, my SAT calculated my NM standards is 690CR, 710M, 680W (the essay isnāt counted). In fact, these not-so-great grades came from 11th grade ā my entire academic career has been a slight downward trend. After reading threads here, I was terrified that the C would bar me from having a great financial safety school. In fact, when I got the mail today, the first thing I did was check that the postage was first-class, to be sure it wasnāt a rejection (because a nonprofit rejection [idk if it is mailed in 1st or nonprofit, but I get paranoid] takes about this long to get to my home). </p>
<p>What I think is the real biggie here is having UW GPAs of like 3.5 or lower (excluding the super difficult prep schools), with plenty of āBā and āCā grades and a low class rank. I feel that they wouldnāt reject someone with a 3.75+, which in nature, must have at least 75% A grades, unless there is something wrong in some other part of the application.</p>
<p>nhdmaniac, This year people donāt seem to be reporting getting rejected with 1 semester āCā as you had. Last year there were many rejected similar to you. NMSC was very tough in 2013. But 4 semester 'Cās is almost certainly too many in any year.</p>
<p>There are some schools that award really good money to Semi Finalist. Just in case, you should research those schools and apply to a few. I did (Fordham) and ended up getting full tuition for Semi Finalist status. It does not increase with finalist, but had I not made finalist and this was the only thing I got form the process I still would have been thrilled. It amounts to almost 44k per year and is a great university.
Others, like Alabama and I think Mississippi State and Auburn give really good awards to Semi Finalist that only become better with finalist.
You canāt be sure whether sheāll make finalist with that many Cās, but you can get ready to have some good offers for Semi Finalist and she might end up loving one of those schools. Good luck. </p>
<p>Baylor and New Mexico (state?) Have good money for a combination of grades and test scores regardless of award status per se. Not competitive so all who qualify get help.</p>
<p>New Mexico, New Mexico State, and New Mexico Tech currently have good scholarships based on grades and scores but it is non-competitive only for New Mexico Residents. Out-of-state scholarships are all competitive. Even worse, the state legislature has informed all schools that there is not enough money (funded by state lottery) to continue to pay for the full-tuition scholarships for all in-state students who currently qualify so these scholarships will very likely see substantial cuts beginning Fall 2014. This will affect even current students who were essentially promised renewal based on grades. </p>
<p>Not clear how this will affect their National Merit Scholarships but I would certainly ask some pointed questions if I was interested in a New Mexico school.</p>
<p>Is there any way to ask the school to change the grades? Or perhaps the school official can explain that their grading scale is tougher than most, or that these lower grades were related to the stress of the divorce? What is her rank? (Things like ECs, volunteer hours, and ACT scores donāt matter for advancing to finalist. SAT scores only matter in that you have to make at least the minimum required score of about 1960. But even strong SAT scores will not overcome low grades.) If I were you, I would look for ACT and SAT score-based scholarships instead of counting on NM because she is likely to get cut. There is a big difference between having ONE semester C, and four semester Cās. Hope for the best,yes, but be prepared. </p>
<p>Abilene Christian in Texas gives full tuition to semi-finalists. My son applied there, at first as a fail safe in case his finalist status did not come through, but as we visited and investigated they really impressed us. It came up from 5th choice to 2nd choice for us. I dont know where you are but you might check it out.</p>
<p>Have you looked through the old threads about rejections and appeals and stats for rejections vs acceptances? Because last year NMSC was so stringent, there was a lot more activity than there has been this year. Lots and lots to read. More than one person called NMSC and was told that absolutely it had nothing to do with GPA or any other factors except the C (or Cās.) They used a very blunt instrument in the cuts. But there also were people who got through with one C as you can see in the NMF stat thread, so there is something else going on that NMSC does not talk about.</p>
<p>I have a theory that it may have a geographic component. Since the target # of NMSFs in done on a state basis, perhaps there is also a rough target # of NMFs for each state. If this is true, then in states with small populations/large rural areas/not much awareness of PSAT value/low participation rates/low cut scores, one might guess that going up or down by a point in cut score would not yield large # of NMSF above/below target, so that it is easier to get close to target #NMSF in the first place and not have much excess built in there. Also guessing that there are plenty of kids/GCs who arenāt even aware, so many donāt send paperwork in. In such states there may not be much culling for NMSC to do. Conversely, a state with large population and near universal participation and a high cut score may some years end up with a cut score that has many excess NMSFs, because the next point lower would have too few. Then if everyone does the paperwork because so many participate that GCs know to pursue it, they may have a lot of cutting to do. So TX could have all the kids with one C rejected, where in some other states NMSC is letting those kids advance.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, nobody is keeping track of state-by-state rejections AFAIK, so no way to know if this idea has any merit. The NMSC annual report lists #NMSF by state, but not finalists. Or is it possible to lay hands on those numbers somewhere? Do any states release full lists of finalists, the way some do of semi-finalists? Still wouldnāt know why kids arenāt advancing from counting a list, but could get an idea if %age varies by state.</p>
<p>I do know personally of one case last year where a kid with pretty bad grades advanced. He went to a school that uses a 6 pt grading scale and it could be NMSC didnāt want to take the time to figure it out. </p>
<p>It must be more lax this year, or there would be many more unhappy people posting about their rejections.</p>
<p>I had a C (ninth grade mathā¦) and Iām an NMF this yearā¦ 5 Cs are a lot but if you do some moving and shaking now it can possibly be overcome. (I actually got two other Cs from classes that were not supposed to appear on my academic average changed- you may be able to do the same.)
Obviously, like everyone said, itās a high hurdle to overcome, but that doesnāt mean thereās any reason not to try.
Good luck!</p>
<p>DS did not advance to NMF from NMSF. So celesteroberts here is at least one unhappy parent post.He attends a good local prep school that is well respected. My schools head college counselor told us it was strictly due to grades. C in AP language class and another as a Freshman. As far as I know everyone else from his school made the cut, it is like he was the sacrificial lamb. This is California, which has many NMSF . I assume this state is heavily competitive, so someone has to go. No idea what was in the school recommendation, it was all handled by college counselor. </p>
<p>What irritates me is that I specifically asked his designated counselor (not the head counselor) months ago about this issue and what she thought SAT score for California NMF needed, etc. Certainly there was no mention of āovercoming his Cāsā to put a better face on his transcript. I had thought it was borderline, but at least an outside chance. Apparently not. I would think she at least would have known better and strongly cautioned us both. Very difficult to accept your kid is one of 10% rejects. </p>
<p>As far as not filling out paperwork, such things happen. Back in the 1970ās I was a NMSF. My Mom didnāt want to drive me out of our small town to take the SAT at the high school sixty miles away, or pay the fee for another test. I already had ACT at our school which seemed enough. Our counselor at my rural school was literally speechless about it when he found out. I only realized this might have been important by the way his face changed and he had to turn away for a minute.</p>
<p>I really wanted this for DS, but maybe it was for some sort of vindication for being a better parent than my Mom! Certainly could have used the money it might have brought to him regardless of Momās lingering emotional baggage. </p>
<p>I am SO sorry for both you and your son. You obviously have some history here that makes this tougher. This may not help, but being named a NMSF is quite an honor in and of itself. He is one of the top students in the United States. I believe that when the disappointment wears off, you will be able to see what a great accomplishment this is.</p>
<p>Oh Iām so sorry. Maybe the counselor didnāt hear about how things played out last year. It may not have affected anyone at your Sās school, and if GC doesnāt read CC, heās out of the loop. They should have some GC blog sites for sharing info.</p>
<p>I understand that in most years earlier, 2 'Cās was generally not a problem. </p>
<p>California is a tough state to make NMSF. Thatās already high honor. Your son must have good test scores, and if heās at a good prep school, should have some attractive college admissions. Iām sure things will work out. But Iām sorry this happened.</p>
<p>Last year at Dās HS 2 of the 20+ NMSF did not advance due to grades. One of them was Pres. Schol. Cand., speaker at graduation, now attending a top school for theater. The school he attends no longer gives money for NMF, so he didnāt miss out on any money.</p>
<p>I wish schools would go to a policy of only putting āyear endā grades on transcripts. My kidsā school did that and it really makes for a better transcript that is MUCH easier to read. This type of transcript also hides the occasional C that becomes a B or better as a year-end grade. </p>
<p>I think there may be fewer unhappy parents posts this year simply because the CC community has become more aware that āmore than one Cā is a killer so those in that situation already donāt have their hopes up. I donāt think NMCorp has gotten more lax.</p>
<p>I do think that NMCorp should ignore any quarter grades and only look at semester gradesā¦but preferably only look at year-end grades. </p>
<p>I think if my junior year child was in danger of not making NMF over one too many Cās, I would consider home-schooling them for senior year and send my own transcript and have him take CC classes. lol</p>
<p>^^^ Here at my daughterās public HS in Los Angeles (LA Unified School District, one of the biggest districts in the country) they use semester grades. If you take APUSH for example, the fall semester is called APUSH A, and the spring semester is APUSH B. Each are (approx) 20 weeks. Whatever grade you get in APUSH A, regardless, you start from scratch for APUSH B. It seems to work well. Thank goodness they donāt record the 5, 10, & 15 week āprogress report cardsā as she had multiple Cās on those, but always was able to finish with at least a B in those classes.</p>