<p>The cut off score is 203 for commended student. I called and asked.</p>
<p>That was the only thing that I asked. They were very nice about telling me- I'm sure if people have more questions they'll be nice to you too. Just don't ask them for the state cut off score.</p>
<p>I found out I was a "high achiever" last April....I think that all ya'll need to listen to entomom. you find out if you're a semifinalist the following september. Everyone who makes the "high achiever" or first inital cut is commended, I think.</p>
<p>Does it really matter what two schools you put down? Should I not put down Ivies because of the money?</p>
<p>The schools you list in the spring of your junior year are NOT BINDING and really is just an opportunity to let two schools know you scored pretty well (203+) on the PSAT. As was said, in August or September of your senior year, you will be notified by NMerit or your school GC if you have scored high enough to be a NMSF or NAhievement SF. You will be given a packet of info to complete by deadlines to compete to be a NMerit Finalist or NAchievement Finalist.</p>
<p>There are various schools that offer merit aid based on your scores--from full ride (tuition, room and board) to lower amounts of merit aid. Some scholarships REQUIRE that you are chosen as a NMF or NAF to receive their scholarship while others just require you to meet a stated GPA & test score.</p>
<p>There are several good threads about merit aid offered by schools. UFlorida, UTexas, UArizona & AzSU are among those which offer very generous merit aid to high achieving students. There are MANY other schools as well, public & private. It is well worthwhile for students & their families to research these, since college is a large financial & educational investment.</p>
<p>You have until 4/19 of your senior year to change your choice of 1st choice school as a NMSF or NMF. You have until 5/31 of your senior year to select your 1st choice school. Some schools impose earlier deadlines for you to qualify for their NM scholarship, so it's best to contact the school(s) you're most interested in directly.</p>
<p>Ivies do NOT offer merit scholarships, including NM & NA scholarships. There are many great schools which DO award merit scholarships to carefully selected students, but the competition is extremely fierce.</p>
<p>Do you know anyone who has gotten any kind of communication from one of the two colleges to which Natl Merit has sent commended level scores? I know I won't be a semifinalist. Which colleges market to the commended kids?</p>
<p>Consiglieri, many folks think that for this first designation of 2 schools (since it isn't binding), that you should pick schools that track interest even if they don't offer NM scholarships. So, don't bother with the Ivies as they don't have to concern themselves with who shows interest as their yields are usually high anyway. However, some LAC's, WUSTL, etc. are schools that are thought to be concerned about students really being interested in attending and so keep track of interest. Who you designate will depend on your particular list of schools, but this is just one thing to keep in mind.</p>
<p>You can look at the threads of schools which give good merit aid to research which schools are looking for kids with good test scores who don't make it to NMF or NMSF.</p>
<p>"Ivies do NOT offer merit scholarships, including NM & NA scholarships."</p>
<p>So would it be worth it to name them as one of your two top choices then, or to list a good backup school that does offer scholarship money to finalists?
Also, do qualifiers for both nat'l hispanic/achievement and nat'l merit scholars get to name four colleges in total (two for each program)?</p>
<p>QL: Since Ivies neither offer merit scholarships or track student interest, they are not a particularly good choice for NM designation. I don't know about Nat. Ach., but the NHRP is separate from NMSP, and it does not give out scholarships nor does it request students to designate colleges. The only thing that NHRP does is send out a CD to member colleges with the names of students that qualify. There are some individual colleges that give merit scholarships to students that are recognized by the NHRP (eg. U Arizona & U Iowa).</p>
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<p>But what if you are in a certain situation in which CB lost your scores but provided you another opportunity to qualify by sending in your april SAT scores (I'm in this situation)? When do people like me get notified? (I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear)</p>
<p>I have never heard of PSAT scores being lost nor have I ever heard of anything but PSAT scores in your junior year being considered for NM. In a unique situation like yours, I'd talk with the GC, NM & CB. Those are always the best source of info anyway.
With regard to letting schools know about your status as a high scoring PSAT test-taker, there is nothing to stop the student from notifying the schools the student is interested in in any case. NM's form given out in the spring of junior year only has space for two schools & for the NMF, you can only officially chose ONE school. I don't know how NMF & NAF overlap; perhaps the GC & CB & NM can help on those.</p>
<p>so you can actually get scholarships for PSAT scores?? I thought only the SAT scores counted</p>
<p>PSAT scores are what they look at to determine whether an individual will be a National Merit or Achievement Semifinalist. The SAT scores are also important, but the PSAT scores are important as well. <a href="http://www.nationalmerit.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.nationalmerit.org/</a> has more info about the program.</p>
<p>i scored a 224
but i haven't received any letter
do i receive the letter through the school or home?</p>
<p>kiki, my D got her notification from her school counselor about a month ago. I think the date for turning in the paperwork is coming very soon. With a 224 you should definitely talk to your school and if you don't get satisfaction, call the NMS people asap. The national cutoff for commended is 204 so there's no doubt that you're at least commended and possibly a semi-finalist.</p>
<p>Do you only need to send your SAT scores in if you get qualified for SF? or do you need to anyway now? meaning should I already have sent them in...</p>
<p>bapie, if you make the SF cutoff, you will get notification in Sept to have a copy of SAT sent, essays, etc. The only thing you should have done now is send in the form listing two colleges, intended major, etc.</p>
<p>ah...thank you!</p>
<p>then I guess I paid 8 dollars for nothing because I sent a SAT score report to NMSC last April</p>