<p>Say I did badly on my PSAT and didn't get national merit but I got a 2250-2350 on my SAT would the lack of NMSF status hurt my chances at elite colleges.</p>
<p>No but it doesn’t help either all top applicants tend to have nmsf in their status. It’s more important than numbers to be passionate and focus on a set of activities that impress the college.</p>
<p>Lol. National Merit is simply a single piece of a larger application.</p>
<p>Is it helpful that you didn’t get it? Nope. Is it going to mean your doomed for ivies? Nope. So, just live with it because you can’t change it and do something that is worth your time i.e. quit worrying about something so trivial.</p>