<p>I don't know where this belongs, I guess it belongs here because this might affect your admissions?</p>
<p>To me, the essay looks too general. It tells you what to write about, so it seems just like a listing essay. It uses "and" not "pick one or the other" so I'm assuming the directions mean to just list everything? I'm not sure if that is what it means, or to write a creative essay.</p>
<p>Assuming your intention is to move to finalist status, I don't know that it really matters what you write. Last year, my daughter simply cut and pasted her admission application essay. However, she did not get an NMSF-sponsored scholarship, but she did get a college-sponsored scholarship.</p>
<p>I second the OP's thoughts. Can anyone help us out? Someone who's done this before maybe?</p>
<p>um, this is totally unrelated:</p>
<p>when did you guys find out about national merit status? i got a 238 (missed one question) so i assume that i should have been a semifinalist. so far i haven't heard anything :(</p>
<p>iostream, I only found out a few days ago. Contact your guidance counselor.. she most likely received the forms in the mail.</p>
<p>Hey, I'm curious about this too. Just wanted to bump this up higher so maybe someone else will see and answer.</p>
<p>Also, is it really pretty easy to move on to finalist?</p>
<p>15,000 out of 16,000 go from SF to F. Basically the 1,000 who didn't write anything don't move on.</p>
<p>Will you be notified if you didn't move on to semi-finalist status as well, or should you just wait a while and assume?</p>
<p>You will not be notified you are not a semi-finalist. If you are not sure, check with your high school guidance office. They are the ones who will notify the semi-finalists.</p>
<p>As to the essay, don't sweat this one. Most of you will become finalists. The essay is not a big deal.</p>
<p>Let me give some advice that I got from an admissions officer at a top-10 US News school.
The National Merit application essay is supposed to be very general. They just want a writing sample. It isn't some sort of trick. The essay prompt basically says "What makes you you? Who is the unique you?" It's very broad--just write a personal essay and be done with it.</p>
<p>grr i wish my school would release them already--i got the highest score in my school (220, which kinda pales by comparison) and last year the cutoff for my state was a 215. i was kind of half-expecting it, even tho my real SAT scores were much better...but, alas, that means i have to write yet another essay. bah.</p>