I have a 2320 superstore sat and a 2270 in one sitting but I have one c on my transcript a semester in honors pre calc and then a couple bs could I still make national merit with a c
I think the chances are close to zero, because there are so many other students that have the same or higher SAT score and have better grades…
@natwhynot … There is no hard and fast set of criteria regarding C’s on your transcript. In most previous years, a single C would not prevent you from advancing to finalist but unfortunately there have been some folks posting here in the past who did not advance with a single C. But there are also folks with more than one C who did advance. Based purely on my observations over the last several years, I believe the criteria is going to vary from state to state. If you’re located in a state with a high cutoff score where the differences between Semifinalists’ resumes are very small I think a single C might be enough of a discriminator to knock you out of the running.
Unfortunately, no one will be able to give you a definitive answer. My guess would be that you’ll probably be safe with a single C, but it’s only a guess based on what I’ve read here on CC over the last 4-5 years. I know it won’t be easy, but you won’t know for sure until early February when congratulatory letters go out to Finalists from NMSC. Letters to Semifinalists who will not advance go out in mid to late January, so if you haven’t received anything from NMSC before the end of January your odds are definitely improved. Every year there are a number of SFs who are on pins and needles waiting to see which letter shows up in their mailbox.
I’m just curious, but is NMF status something you’re hoping to achieve for financial reasons or are you primarily interested in the bullet point? If you’re not targeting any of the large $$ “unofficial” NMF scholarship schools (UKy, Bama, OU, etc.) or are only hoping for one of the one-time $2500 awards to use at a non-NM school I really wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about it. The difference in your application results at non-NM schools between NMSF and NMF will have very little effect.
If you are interested in one or more of the large $$ scholarships, I’d recommend that you proceed as if you will advance to Finalist, but just make sure you have a solid back-up plan in the event that you are not selected. I wish any of us could give you a more definitive answer, but there’s just no way to know until letters are sent out early next year. Good Luck to you!!
@Wolverine86 my state is Indiana do u know how that would play a role and yah I’ve been doing my research and I’m really hoping for that scholarship from Alabama due to financial reasons I also know usc has a good scholarship as well but thank you so much but yah do u know how I would fare being in Indiana
@Wolverine86 my state is Indiana and the cutoff is 213 would that c be enough to knock me out of the running in this state
@natwhynot … If my guess (and please understand it’s only a guess) is correct on the state by state variances on transcript C’s affecting advancement, I’d say being in a mid-range state like Indiana probably works in your favor. I don’t want to give you false hope, but if my child were in your situation I’d proceed with a pretty good expectation of advancing.
Since Bama is a school that interests you, you already have a solid back-up plan in that you qualify for the Presidential Scholarship based on your stats which would give you full OOS tuition for 4 years. That’s a great accomplishment already!!
@chubii has no idea.
Most NMSF’s make NMF. The idea that there are “many” with better grades or scores is irrelevant. There are kids with 3.5 GPAs and 1960 SATs making NMF.
One C will probably not hurt you, but there doesn’t seem to be a hard and fast rule about it.
Do you know how your school reports grades on official transcripts? Some schools ONLY put year-end grades, so one C on that sort of transcript would almost certainly be a problem because it would look like TWO C’s.
so, if your school only reports a “year end” grade, then maybe it was a B-? Do you know if your transcript has a year end grade and what it is?
You might want to call NMCorp (they’re pretty helpful on the phone) and ask if one C will keep you from making NMF.
I’ll definitely call and my school reports semester grades and I got a c plus the first semester of the class but not the second so it’s just that one c
@mom2collegekids
sorry it was completely my bad… I live in California, so the standards are higher (cut line was 223 this year)… I was skewed because everyone I know who got semi-finalist all have near 4.0 unweighted GPA’s
Only the standard for making NMSF is higher in Calif…not making NMF. There is no unique standard for Calif for the NMSF => NMF in Calif.
The fact that you only know 4.0 GPA kids making NMF doesn’t matter. It’s not unusual for a NMSF to have a 4.0. When my son was a NMF, all at his school also had a 4.0…but that didn’t mean a 4.0 was needed.
I say apply and hope for the best.
My son was a 2013 high school grad with a “C” for a required essay class at his hs who made NMF from NJ. NJ had the highest NMSF cut-off scores that year.
All you can really know is a definite maybe. Sometimes kids make it with one C, sometimes they don’t. It’s hard to say. All you can do apply and hope.
We need some “insider info” regarding NMCorp. You’d think that after all these years, someone on CC would have some sort of connection and could share some answers to some of the mysteries that surround the process.