<p>Well, I've called my son's school principal's office; they say they've heard nothing yet. </p>
<p>I also contacted National Merit in Illinois. They told me everything was mailed by August 22, so we should be hearing something any day now. However, if the school still says they have received nothing by the day after Labor Day, they want me to tell the school to call National Merit immediately.</p>
<p>I'm still going to contact my son's school daily.</p>
<p>It is true that parents requests are given different urgency over students requests. Brandon's mom's suggestion shows a diplomatic way for the school to save face but still produce the desired materials.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If my kid went to a school where they "played games" and dragged their feet giving the info to the kids, I'd make a HUGE stink and embarrass them soooo much that they woudn't dare do it another year. (Sometimes I think that educators who do this are just jealous because they were never so honored.)
[/quote]
Oh, please. This comment is just uncalled for.</p>
<p>" . . .We are hearing from colleges already . . ."</p>
<p>This is probably a dumb question, but I've never dealt with this before, so please bear with me: </p>
<p>Since my son should have made NMSF with his score (although his school says they've not yet been notified), SHOULD he be getting congratulatory correspondence from colleges already? </p>
<p>Even though it's before Sept 13, the day the Semi-finalists' names are to be released to the press?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Colorado here.
No word yet, and my counselor (i'm a hs senior, not a parent) says she hasn't gotten the paperwork yet. sigh.</p>
<p>Last year, my S definitely heard from his college counselor (in August), well before any schools congratulated him on his NMSF status.</p>
<p>Brandon's mom:</p>
<p>Did your S check the box where it asks whether he wanted his info to be shared with colleges? Mine did not and received nary a recruiting letter from colleges, hence the lack of 6 boxes of college brochures that Xiggi just threw out. I would not worry about this. The highest qualifying score I've seen was for MA, MD and DC and it was 222, so your S is absolutely sure of being NMSF. </p>
<p>Also our school did not release the names of NMSF until October. I had to remind the principal that the kids needed to know in order to write their essays, and coordinate with GCs!</p>
<p>Hi, my S's school (California) called all NMSF to the Counselor's office on Friday, Aug.25, and gave them the packets. My S had a 231 so I guess he was well above the cutoff for Cal.</p>
<p>"Did your S check the box where it asks whether he wanted his info to be shared with colleges?"</p>
<p>Marite, I have no idea whether he checked the box. I looked all over his score report and saw nothing that confirmed he did, and of course he doesn't remember - or care. Typical for him! lol</p>
<p>However, it's not a big deal. I just wanted to know whether we missed something he should have done during this process that would have muddled his chance at NMSF. </p>
<p>And I've been getting worried that, because we hadn't heard anything yet from his school, his score might have "slipped through the cracks" somehow. </p>
<p>It was reassuring to pull out his official score report again and see it in "black and white."</p>
<p>Thank you very much!</p>
<p>If the school does not get the scores soon, you can show the score report to his GC and ask what the procedures are for NMSF. Since there is absolutely no doubt that your S qualifies, the GC should be able to begin assembling the materials. I don't know if the writing prompts change annually or not. You could also contact the NM Corporation and ask. Still, our school did not get moving until October.</p>
<p>The college counselor at our HS says counselors are given a special phone number that gets them to more helpful folks at the College Board & NM than us "mere mortals." If the HS really doesn't have the materials, perhaps you (as parent) could ask the counselor if s/he could call NM (with your son present & his last year score report prntiout in his hand--the HS is generally given the printout of the scores within a month or so after the test was administered as well).
Also, if they chose two schools to notify of their high PSAT scores at the end of their junior year, those two schools know they tested well.
Not sure how valuable all those boxes of college materials actually are. We donated them to the local public HS, so they can have it in their library and/or college counseling office. My S was NOT interested in most of the schools who sent him material & had no problem getting the schools he cared about to send him info (an on-line request got materials sent promptly).</p>
<p>I just received an email from Brandon's HS principal - Brandon is officially an NMSF from Florida!</p>
<p>Now we have to wait until tomorrow to get the paperwork, since Lee County schools are closed today because of the dud tropical storm. <em>sigh</em> </p>
<p>But that's okay! Now we can relax!</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for your help!</p>
<p>lucky, you got the prompt early. i guess i better get started - my counselor told me i was going to be nmf.</p>
<p>Calmom,
I wish the cutoff were still 216, or even last year's 217. Unfortunately for my son, the rest of California chose this year to do well on the PSAT. Cal cutoff is 219 (go Cali). Mr. Miss-All-The-Easy questions (not kidding!) and score a 218 will have to settle for Commended -- and a 2310 SAT! How frustrating can one teenager be??</p>
<p>Burnthis - I posted your info on the "Financial Aid" board, where students have a thread and are trying to figure out each state's NMSF cutoffs this year. One kid's assistant principal suggested that the cutoff would be 217 this year for CA, so they have it up on the list with a question mark. I guess you answered that question! Sorry about your son missing the cutoff. It looks highly likely that my son will too, since TX and CA scores seem to go hand-in-hand - and only up, up, up. It's too bad, though, because he would like to go to the big public schools that give a full-ride. oh well.... it's just (sob)... money.... (sob, sob) ;)</p>
<p>BurnThis</p>
<p>Do you know for sure that CA cutoff is now 219? did your d's school announce and she was not one of them?</p>
<p>Here's the thread collating Semifinalist minimums, if you want to see if people have said anything about your state yet:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=74297%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=74297</a></p>
<p>Burnthis -- wow, that's quite a jump! I know that at one point I managed to find data going several years back, so I don't think that in the past 10 years it had deviated more than +/- 1 from 216 -- so assuming you have first hand knowledge, I stand corrected and very surprised. </p>
<p>Pleased don't fault your kid -- 218 is a great score. I know it must be a disappointment, though, after waiting all year and assuming that the 218 was safely in range.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that Burnthis. I was a commended student way back when so I know the feeling well! Luckily ds was well above the cutoff, we just got the unofficial word from his counselor today.</p>
<p>PS my son the math whiz got a 760 on the math section of the SAT both incredibly easy questions - one of which he could easily have done in 4th grade.</p>
<p>Gosh I should proofread my posts while they are still editable. In case it wasn't clear he got two math questions wrong on the SAT1 - both very easy. I think he'd also gotten two wrong on the PSAT.</p>