PSAT / national Merit / results

Parents Forum
1

PSAT scores are out. last year California cutoff for National merit Semifinalist was 222. This year projected cutoff is 223.

National Merit Semifinalist / Finalist - is it useful for college admission? What is the use of this metric? What do we need it for? Any ideas?

2

It’s a nice line item. If you’re looking at the very top schools it’s not so impressive. Many schools give very generous merit aid for NMSF and NMF. I believe there’s a thread on it in the SAT & ACT tests forum.

3

Wow, 223 out of max 228 points wouldn’t leave much room for errors.

4

I just tried to log in to see scores and it said not available until the 13th. Were you able to see them today?

5

Scores are released Dec. 11-13, depending on your state. You can Google to find out which states are released on which dates. My son (Illinois) received an email at 10:00 AM CST, and his scores are available now.

6

For some reason it seems to take the electrons a while to reach across the country.

7

What is it useful for? A small scholarship from the National Merit corporation. Or a very very large scholarship at certain schools.

8

@5timesmom if you can’t wait, you can spoof your location using VPN and get the results early by pretending to be in another state. Or wait a day or two.

9

<if you’re="" looking="" at="" the="" very="" top="" schools="" it’s="" not="" so="" impressive.="">

Top schools are impressed by the color of your skin, legacy, VIP, or by the color of money that your parents can donate. They are not impressed by any achievement that a STUDENT can make.

10

Older list, but indicates that large scholarships may be available. Check on college websites since they may have changed.

http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/

11

Back in the day—20 years ago—my son was offered $4,000 NMS from Carlton and $750 from UChicago. The latter was just a token probably more to help UofC’s stats than to entice my son. Carleton’s was a meaningful amount. Nevertheless, he did enroll at UofC.

12

@dogandcat it sure seems that way these days unless you asian than you get points taken away!

13

I know that some schools are very generous … U of OK gives full ride plus more.

14

Thank you all!

15

“I know that some schools are very generous … U of OK gives full ride plus more.”

Yes, some schools are very generous. As mentioned by others, a lot of the better schools who used to sponsor NM are no longer doing so, or have cut back substantially. Many of the best schools never sponsored NM.

As for OK, this sounds like less than full-ride to me:
https://www.ou.edu/content/admissions/nationalscholars/national-merit-scholarship.html
“While OU’s National Merit scholarship is a wonderful financial package, it will not cover all expenses.”

16

National Merit is actually a very big deal. True, the scholarships that come from National Merit are small, but some colleges offer HUGE scholarships to NM finalists, sometimes even a “full ride” with a stipend too. Some are automatic.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • The selection index cutoff for "commended" is the same nationwide. This year it was 211.
  • The selection index cutoff for National Merit Semifinalist is different in every state. Some states were as high as 223 this year, but others were barely above the commended level. You can find historical data online.
  • Roughly 16,000 students are Semifinalists every year. 15,000 will then become Finalists, so the odds are good. To become a finalist you must apply, write an essay that you can probably repurpose from your college applications, and take the SAT.
  • National Merit Semifinalists will get tons more mail than other students, including many with scholarship offers.
  • The schools offering the huge scholarships are not going to be Ivy League, but they are good schools. Some are very large but have honors colleges. There are lists online.
17

College-sponsored National Merit Scholarships are rare at top schools. However, roughly 8,000 students each year receive scholarship awards directly from the National Merit Corporation, or from corporations with which their family members are connected. I am not sure about the size of the national, unsponsored scholarships–$2000 or $2500. This can be a helpful amount, even for a full-pay family. About half or a bit more of all finalists receive money.

18

It depends on the college. Some colleges do make a point of admitting NMS and bragging about the large number of NMS in their admitted class. You can get some idea of such colleges, by looking at which colleges have an unexpected large number, including sponsored. As an example, the totals for OK and some selective colleges are below from the 15-16 report. I’d expect the unexpected names towards the top place a strong value on admitting NMS. Skimming through of few of their websites gives a similar impression. For example, Vanderbilt’s admission profile at https://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/profile/ makes a point of listing how many NMS they have and also offers small scholarships for such students. Oklahoma’s website at http://www.ou.edu/admissions/nationalscholars.html mentions that they are proud of being #1 in NMS and makes a commitment to recruiting such students and offers larger scholarships/benefits.

Oklahoma - 279
Chicago - 277
USC - 230
Vanderbilt - 220
Stanford - 179
Yale - 147
Princeton - 117
Columbia - 67

19

I know my daughter’s merit scholarship offers from various LACs had something to do with her NMF status.

20

I’m not sure if this list is current, but here is a list of schools offering full tuition or more to NM scholars:

http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/

@Massmomm keep in mind that the NM designation will often go with other scholarships that are not directly related to the NMF status. Kids who are NMF are very strong students and test takers. This can lead to generous merit aid (from schools that offer such aid), not necessarily because they are NMF but because of the type of student who achieves NMF status.