<p>Just got my national merit and achievement rejection letters with a 228 PSAT and 300+ comm service hours. My weighted GPA is a 3.9 but my school puts quarterly grades on transcripts so I had some c's that I ultimately brought up to b's but there is no overall average listed on the transcript. I may appeal on the grounds that my transcript formatting makes my grades look worse than they actually are. I had fully expected this so I'm not too upset, but just a warning to those waiting that rejection week is upon us!</p>
<p>That’s a huge bummer 
. I think the quarter system sounds awful… I think I’ve had Ds and Fs as quarter grades because of a missing assignment or two that became As. I’m still waiting to see if I get a letter. </p>
<p>If you do decide to appeal, good luck! I think they should take your school’s system into consideration.</p>
<p>Texastobama where are you from? Those of us waiting are wondering when the letters were sent out and how far they’ve reached. </p>
<p>Based on your user name did you apply to Bama? If so then you still get the good semifinalist scholarship that maybe will bump up if the appeal works?
Your PSAT is stellar. I hope your appeal works.
Did they send you one letter with rejections for both (NM and NA) or one for each? I’d appeal both and maybe one of them will move you to finalist.</p>
<p>How many Cs did you have and what is your UW GPA? Especially if you’re ranked highly, you should appeal the decision.</p>
<p>I haven’t received a letter yet, but I may end up being in the same situation as you. I have the letter “C” showing up on my transcript 4 times, despite having no final C grades and just one semester C grade (which became a B later, so my final grade was a B). This is among about 150 As and maybe 12 Bs. I’m ranked 1/227 and have 3.94 or 3.95 UW (because only final grades count for us) and will definitely appeal if I get a rejection.</p>
<p>I think that it’s outrageous that NMCorp looks at quarter grades when most schools do not put quarter grades on transcripts.</p>
<p>Another annoyance…homeschoolers never get rejection letters based on grades. lol</p>
<p>It’s nice to be at a high school that doesn’t even put semester grades on transcripts. Only final grades for us.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Just to let you know there are some homeschool parents (like ourselves) that actually do give our kid Bs and Cs if they deserve them. </p>
<p>That being said, we can be at a disadvantage too, no class ranking, no class clubs to be president of, can’t think of how I could have done a weighted GPA. We moved the summer of daughter’s senior year to a different state, so we didn’t even have anything local to put down when the applications were due.</p>
<p>Right, mom21clgbnd! 
It’s also worth noting that many kids who are homeschooled in high school take classes outside of the home. They are graded objectively in these classes by someone other than their mom or dad. :-)</p>
<p>Yes, SurvivorFan, my DS was saved from having a C on his transcript by not having semester grades for year-long courses show up on the transcript. (Most of the courses are one semester only, so of course the semester grade is the final grade in that case and it does show up.)</p>
<p>I feel really badly for anyone who got rejected on the basis of quarter grades that most people don’t even have to reveal. I hope your appeals are successful!</p>
<p>I don’t understand the thinking behind they way NMC evaluates grades. It makes no sense to penalize a student for a C at quarter if they brought it up to an A or B at semester. How many students who received an A or B at semester actually had a C at quarter, but there’s just no record? Crazy.</p>
<p>If I get rejected I’m certainly going to appeal and would encourage others to as well because the way they do this simply makes no sense</p>
<p>“Texastobama where are you from?”
I’m from Texas</p>
<p>“Based on your user name did you apply to Bama? If so then you still get the good semifinalist scholarship that maybe will bump up if the appeal works?”
Yes I still get full tuition to Bama! It’s kind of the principle that there is no universal transcript system that irks me.
“Did they send you one letter with rejections for both (NM and NA) or one for each?”
I got two letters, one from each organization.
UW GPA is a 3.3, which isn’t great, but after I removed the quarterly grades, I have two overall c’s, which still may be unacceptable to NM.</p>
<p>I think an enterprising junior could make an awesome community service project by cataloging the small, easily-fixed problems with the NMS process, getting a bazillion kids to sign it, and then presenting it to NMS. Send out a press release at the same time. Make them notice.</p>
<p>@wasatchwriter Or an enterprising senior. I myself have played with the idea.</p>
<p>I was thinking an OP-ED in a national paper. Along with letters to every college that gives any sort of money for NMF status. </p>
<p>But I also think I would just sound bitter if I get rejected.</p>
<p>"). I also heard of one rejection based on the essay, which was apparently rude and critical of the National Merit program. (If that’s not true, it sure is a great story!) Never heard of a rejection based on GPA, though"</p>
<p>That may be so for homeschooled kids not in the running for NMF. However, in all the years I’ve been on CC (since 2005), I’ve never seen a post from a homeschooled NMSF not make NMF.</p>
<p>*I think an enterprising junior could make an awesome community service project by cataloging the small, easily-fixed problems with the NMS process, getting a bazillion kids to sign it, and then presenting it to NMS. Send out a press release at the same time. Make them notice.
*</p>
<p>I think that if someone could get some of NMCorp’s bigger donors on board…that would move NMCorp.</p>
<p>Do they tell you why you were rejected?</p>
<p>What date were rejection letters sent out this year? Is it before or after acceptance letters?</p>
<p>They were sent out about 3 weeks ago</p>