<p>My son scored 236 in PSAT from TX. I had 2 questions/doubts which I would request the knowledgeable and helpful CC family members to answer for me. Do we have to individually contact scholarship entities(universities and corporate bodies) or do they get some notification from College Board regarding the potential NM Semifinalists' names? Secondly, is GPA also a consideration in identifying and finalizing the NM finalists?Thanks a bunch for the help. And another thing, I am a new member on CC, joined a few weeks ago. Want to say,"KUDOS TO THIS SITE AND THE MEMBERS".</p>
<p>Colleges get lists of NMSFs. GPA is considered in moving to finalist status. As far as I know, as long as the GPA is not really bad (below 3.0?) he should be OK. Anyone want to correct me?</p>
<p>First of all, kudos on a great PSAT score! As long as your son didn’t check the box saying “no mail” I believe all schools that request a list of NM qualifiers will get his name (if he took the test as a junior.) I believe the flood of mail began sometime in December, with a change in tenor (referring to great performance on the test) sometime in early spring.</p>
<p>GPA does matter, but how much is up to speculation. While 16,000 are named NMSF, only 15,000 are named NMF. You have to have an SAT score that backs up the PSAT score (widely believed to be anything over 2000), fill in the paperwork & submit it, have a principal rec (theory is that kids with disciplinary issues may have a problem here) and your academic record has to be good. NM doesn’t say exactly what that means. Rumor is that one D on a transcript can kick you out of the running, but no one knows for sure. </p>
<p>I’m waiting to find out about that myself; my D had a tough time in Chemistry as a sophomore and ended up with 1 C. Will that disqualify her for NMF? Don’t know, but I’ve already told her not to “expect” to be a finalist.</p>
<p>^Interesting RobD! Will you post when she gets her final results?</p>
<p>amm2009, congrats on that great score! Your son will definitely be a semifinalist. I would suggest he start thinking about (not actually writing) his response to the essay question. The entire package took longer than either my d or I would have thought - though we may have had more paperwork since we homeschool.</p>
<p>This year’s essay topic was:
“To help the reviews get to know you, describe an experience you have had, a person who has influenced you, or an obstacle you have overcome. Explain why this is meaningful to you.”</p>
<p>The essay may change a bit but I doubt it, plus it won’t hurt him to start thinking of ideas to write about.</p>
<p>RobD…</p>
<p>I don’t think that that one C is going to disqualify her. What’s her overall GPA? Was that C for a quarter or a semester or for a year end grade? Transcripts don’t show quarter grades (usually), and some only show “year end” grades. </p>
<hr>
<p>amm2009</p>
<p>Unless your son’s GPA is low, he should be fine. However, encourage him to have a strong GPA this junior year. That will show an “upward trend.” Plus, if he’s taking any AP classes, he’ll get the weighted “bump” in his GPA. :)</p>
<p>Also, tell your son to “keep his nose clean” at school. Some kids don’t make it to NMF if they can’t get the school to write a good rec for them.</p>
<p>Colleges are given prior notice as to who will be named NMSF. Some will send mailers, some don’t.</p>
<p>What are you interested in? NM Full tuition scholarships? NM Full rides (or nearly full rides)? </p>
<p>When my son was a NMSF a 3 years ago, we got several offers in the mail, but we also had to seek some out by contacting some schools that were known to give big NM scholarships. </p>
<p>If you tell us what you’re looking for (size of scholarships), we can make some suggestions.</p>
<p>Congrats to your son!</p>
<p>Thanks to RobD, Erin’s Dad, Highland Mom and Mom2college kids for the info, comments and remarks. Sorry for replying late, was not able to post due to busy work schedule. As far as the score in pSAT goes,makes me feel better. However, I have sleepless nights thinking about his potential GPA and actual GPA, what could have been and what is going to be! His unweighted GPA at the end of 10th grade was 3.2/4.0 and weighted GPA was 4.87/6.0 with all honors and AP courses except debate which is concerned a regular course despite the time sink it involves. My son goes to a suburban high school, which is extremely competitive and his class rank is 224/698. Everyone in his school knows that he is a very smart kid and people were surprised to know his class rank as he was expected to be in the top 5 ranks!! Slept through 9th grade and half of 10th, woke up and started working relatively very hard but past is haunting him. In addition, we just got his 1st semester report card. An 97 in English III AP, 89 in Physics honors, 89 in Spanish honors, 82 in Calculus BC, 94 in Debate and 88 in Decathlon honors class. Per his counselor, his current GPA probably is around 5.0/6.0. He is taking SAT on 23rd of this month. Has extremely good EC’s including-2 times AIME qualifier, founder president of a club- the first of it’s kind in the country with international beneficiaries, school representative in our school district’s leadership program and some more. Has been scoring 2300+ in SAT practice tests. My worry is his GPA and the consequence thereof of a low GPA when National merit finalist list and Presidential scholars programs will be decided. Also, he wants to do law at Harvard which makes me depressed. After reading so much on CC about the vagaries/inconsistencies of Ivy league admissions, what will happen. He is an otherwise very bright kid, has received invitation for TASP(has written 2 of the required 5 essays so far!) and very personable and well liked by peers and teachers alike in his school. Has 2 teachers in mind for excellent LORs, who have very high regard for his intellect. Wants to be an intellectual property lawyer, for which some people, including a lawyer himself, suggested to him to get a professional degree in engineering or medicine(which he hates as both parents are physicians) before going to law school. He does not know even now as a junior as to what major he wants to go for and which school. He is our only child. Being immigrant parents from South East Asia, we have not studied in high schools and colleges here(I did medicine residency which is not the same thing), and I am getting very nervous.(By the way, my son has a C in honors Biology and honors English in 9th grade, a B in honors Chemistry and honors Algebra II in 10th grade. I don’t know why he stops at 88s and 89s in many subjects!! )
Coming back to the actual questions from you all, my husband is preparing for a test and has taken a sabbatical for 2-3 years, so I have to foot the college bill, so obviously, the more aid my son gets the better, however, if he gets into a great school, I will try my best to help him. I do not know the difference between full tuition vs. full ride, hence am unable to answer the question. Thanks again for responding and encouraging. Good luck to you all.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son for his great test score! If you haven’t already read through these threads, they can give you a lot of information:
[National</a> Merit Scholarships - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/]National”>Financial Aid (Need-based, merit aid, loans) - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>Since you were not born here - was your son? He has to either be a citizen already or be in the process “at the earliest opportunity”, so if he isn’t already, start getting the paperwork in order.</p>
<p>While his grades aren’t super-star-quality, they don’t seem like they will be the determining factor. He sounds like a great kid who just needed a year to get on track (like many boys).</p>
<p>Oops! Sorry, I somehow missed those comments back at me! My apologies!</p>
<p>@HighlandMom-I will make a point to let y’all know the final outcome.</p>
<p>@M2CK: It was a semester grade: C 1st semester which she moved up to a B for 2nd semester. All other grades her sophomore year were A’s and junior year was straight A’s. Her weighted GPA is a 3.97; I think the highest possible GPA at her school is a 4.5. Our transcripts show semester grades only, not marking period grades.</p>
<p>I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but wanted to be blunt with her (and to myself also) so we won’t be terribly disappointed if she doesn’t move to NMF. But it would be nice to have the room part of her COA at Alabama taken care of too :)</p>
<p>RobD, I think she’ll be fine. I think many of the kids who don’t move on simply didn’t get the paperwork in (mostly because the HS didn’t know it was important because they hadn’t seen it in years, or because the student didn’t finish it). Talk to her GC if you are worried and make sure they understand that this is important to you. If her school regularly has many semi-finalists each year and brags about it, they will probably help to present her in the best light. If they have never had one, you may have to be more pro-active.</p>
<p>Dragonmom: thanks for the encouraging words. Oh, our district loves to parade the NMSF’s so I’m sure they did everything on their end; it helps that D is fairly involved. Her GC was very enthusiastic over the whole process. She is one of 4 NMSFs from her school this year. 3 last year, 0 the year before that and 2 the year before that. She was a little embarrassed by the fawning over them back in the fall-they were all interviewed for the school paper & TV show. </p>
<p>I’m really not worried about it. While it would be nice, both in terms of the recognition & the extra scholarship money, I’m of the school that you hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. She did the best that she could in a challenging class and she loved the teacher so much she signed up for an AP class with her this year.</p>
<p>RobD, I think she’ll be fine. I think many of the kids who don’t move on simply didn’t get the paperwork in (mostly because the HS didn’t know it was important because they hadn’t seen it in years, or because the student didn’t finish it).</p>
<p>True…usually the kids who don’t move on simply didn’t do the paperwork, had average grades, had suspensions, etc. A student at my son’s school didn’t move on because he wrote a sarcastic essay. Unbelievable. </p>
<p>amm…I don’t know how NMCorp considers weighted GPA. I would ask the school’s GC to find out (or call NMCorp yourself - they’re nice on the phone). IF they consider weighted then your son will be fine. Otherwise, he really does need to boost his GPA this year, as a precaution. :)</p>
<p>Actually, per a thread on the SAT forum, the Finalist rejection letters have been sent. And I checked last years threads and Jan 10th was when they started arriving then too. Reading through last years thread made me remember why I was a little concerned. See <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/696125-psat-scores-national-merit-semifinalists-2009-h-s-class-2010-a-32.html#post1063901223[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/696125-psat-scores-national-merit-semifinalists-2009-h-s-class-2010-a-32.html#post1063901223</a> </p>
<p>Guess we’ll see either way in the near future.</p>
<p>RobD, best of luck to her in all her choices. If I can give advice where it wasn’t asked - if for some reason she somehow isn’t a finalist… don’t bring it up again to her. (come on this thread and gripe all you want!)</p>
<p>Dragonmom: Thanks for the advice; we’re not big on dwelling on negatives here; not that you can call “just” being a NMSF a negative. I mentioned to her in the fall when she was doing her paperwork that she shouldn’t “expect” to move onto NMF because they might look at that grade funny. If she does get the rejection letter this week, it’ll be a “aw, that’s too bad honey” comment and then we’ll move on.</p>
<p>Actually, per a thread on the SAT forum, the Finalist rejection letters have been sent.</p>
<p>Wow…I didn’t realize rejection letters went out this early… I’m trying to remember when my son was notified that he made finalist. I think he was told by his school. Would that be right? (it was 3 years ago, so memory might be fuzzy.)</p>
<p>Rob, what did you read that got you scared?</p>
<p>The rejection letters were first noted on Jan 10th last year, and now Jan 9th of this year. The notification that you were named an NMF didn’t come until early February (I believe schools get notified on Feb 2nd & students get letters to their home on Feb 9th this year.)</p>
<p>There were 10 kids in the thread last year that didn’t make NMF. Only 1 had a disciplinary problem on their record. The others had a small blemish or two in their gpas. That was the first time I thought that that one C could cause a problem; for at least one of the students, there had been no Cs or below, just 4 B- grades. But then again, there were kids on the thread who had lesser grades and still made NMF. Hard to tell in an internet forum what the full reality was.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>But we also don’t know what their schools wrote in their recs. </p>
<p>I find it hard to believe that one C could keep a child out. </p>
<p>Prayers that it all works out. So, do you think that if you don’t get a letter Monday or Tuesday, your D will be fine?</p>
<p>That is true M2CK, but last year seemed to have some especially harsh cuts. </p>
<p>I am thinking that if we don’t get bad news before we hit the road to Capstone Scholars Day, then I’ll assume things are all well. And even if she stops at NMSF, she’ll still have a nice scholarship at UA along with a lot of enthusiasm for going there (which got started once UA got on radar because of the NMF scholarships!) So all is still well :)</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>True…</p>
<p>I’m still going to say a prayer that she makes it. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>keep in mind that we don’t always know what kids post on those threads are true.</p>
<p>And, we don’t know the quality of their essays or the truth about their SAT scores.</p>
<p>Good Luck, RobD. From what I gathered from my conversation with a personnel from National Merit Scholarship Corporation, SAT scores, GPA and essays are all taken into consideration. GPA alone does not make the cut or make the decision. So, your daughter is still a strong contender!Good Luck again.</p>