<p>Now this rigor of course load thing has me worried. My son goes to a tiny rural high school. There are few honors classes offered. In fact they created AP calculus just for him. He made a 230 on the psat and has a 4.0 He took the most rigorus course load available. I hope they dont get too picky about that.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that they penalize if there aren’t more rigorous classes available. </p>
<p>My guess is it comes into play on situations where there’s a C in an honors class vs a C in a regular class. Maybe one honors C is ok but not a non honors C. </p>
<p>And I’ll add that my sons high school has very many honors and AP classes and he has only a few honors ones. So it is quite clear that he could have taken a more rigorous schedule.</p>
<p>NMCorp doesn’t seem to care WHAT the rigor is…or lack of rigor. </p>
<p>I guess their thinking is that some schools have less rigorous courses offered.</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>Yup! I told this story…it happened at my kids’ school.</p>
<p>Course rigorous is depending on the school. The counselor should include a school report in the application that would explain that. I would not worry if the school does not offer that many challenging courses.</p>
<p>1or2Musicians, now that I have actually been allowed to see the letter 
my daughter’s said the same about careful consideration of coursework and grades. her stats look very similar to your son’s. And same here, disappointed for her, but things will ultimately work out.
celesteroberts, she is considering Alabama, UAB, and Mississippi State at this point. REALLY wanted University of Missouri, but just didn’t get enough scholarship money. She is also reconsidering a state school, although they are truthfully fallbacks, way down on the list.</p>
<p>I see. So ‘careful consideration of coursework and grades’ is a blurb from a form letter, could mean anything.</p>
<p>What’s at Mizzou? My D13 has a friend who goes there, got the impression it’s for some aviation program. But not many kids from our area go there. He was the first I’ve heard, though it’s not far away, have to drive to Missouri for soccer all the time.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, TOO FUNNY! I heard that a couple years ago, right? Is that when you posted about it?</p>
<p>As for rigor of classes, I have some info! S1 and I attended a meeting at a college about scholarships for NMF, and the speaker said to get a copy of whatever the school turned in for the NMSF’s, just in case the NMSF didn’t make NMF and had to appeal. So I asked the school and they actually gave me a copy! I just pulled it out of my son’s file. My amazing and accurate filing system! Yeah, actually it’s a fluke that I found it, but .</p>
<p>It’s from 2010, and is called 2010 National Merit Scholarship Application. There is about 1/2 the page for the “Letter of Recommendation and Characterization of the Semifinalist”.</p>
<p>Then there is a section where the school must check either Most Rigorous, Very Rigorous, Average or Below Average in answer to this query: “In comparison with other college preparatory students at your school, the applicant’s course selection is:”</p>
<p>Then there is a place to check Below Average, Average, Above Average, Very Good (top 10%), Excellent (Top 5%) or Outstanding (top 1%) for Academic Achievement, Extracurricular Accomplishments, and Personal Qualities and Character.</p>
<p>Might be worth nudging the GC on this one.</p>
<p>I live in Indiana and I got 1 suspension sophomore year- no other detentions or anything on my discipline record. My GC wrote about how it was a learning experience for me and how I turned it around and am a leader in my school now. I got a 2180 on the SAT, don’t have any C’s on my transcript, wrote a good essay, good extra curriculars, etc. </p>
<p>I live in Indiana and am anxiously waiting. I have not yet received a rejection letter, but I have read in many places that if you are a “discipline problem” that you could get rejected. I don’t feel as if I am a “discipline problem”, since it was a one time occurrence, but I don’t know what interpretation of that phrase NMSC will use. </p>
<p>They’re headquarters are in IL, right? So if they have already been sent out and I live in Indiana and have not received one yet… when can I feel safe? Also, what do you guys think my chances are?</p>
<p>I’ve heard that discipline issues are a problem only if they cause your school not to recommend you. If your GC gave you a good recommendation and that’s your only potential issue I bet you should be safe. Since people in Texas are already getting them, maybe by the end of this week to be sure? (I’m in Kansas and am also not sure when I can calm down haha)</p>
<p>jsquared…hope they don’t treat 1 suspension like they do 1 D on your transcript. In this case no news is good news. If you have no word in a day or two looks like you are good. You might ask your principal too. I think they get notified as to the status of their SF’s before finalists are notified at home. Good luck kiddo</p>
<p>I spent all fall looking through the mail excited to see new college brochures and then later some early action hard copy acceptance confirmations.
Now? I look through the mail hoping NOT to see any letter from National Merit Corp. So, yeah.</p>
<p>My parents told me to calm down and that ‘all will be well, either way’. I have awesome parents (same ones I complained about when they had me apply to a couple of places that did semi-finalist scholarships to be safe and finalists scholarships just in case). If they are worried about this, they aren’t showing me. I guess one anxious person going through the mail is enough.</p>
<p>Safe, another day. Sorry for those of you that received letter and I really hope you appeal. I will be doing so if I get the letter.</p>
<p>TNmom11, I suggested MS state as a possibility. Son has no interest. He has a very nice offer from an in state (we are in Louisiana) that he liked a lot when we visited. He has gotten in to UNT and applied to OU. I encouraged a couple org other in state apps just to have multiple financial safeties but he says he would be OK with the one he’s got, and I think it’s a better fit than most other instate options. If that’s where he ends up we are in a good ( and very cheap) place. </p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter.</p>
<p>Mizzou has a pretty well respected journalism school but as the state flagship they are quite stingy about merit aid…</p>
<p>Just a clarification to post #40, which said “only about half of finalists receive scholarships so don’t feel too bad about not making finalist. . .”</p>
<p>I think this statement is misleading, or at least misses the point.</p>
<p>Some families are counting on those big automatic scholarships given to NM finalists by many colleges, so it can be a huge disappointment and financial blow if a student does not make NM finalist. Those finalists who don’t get NM scholarships essentially choose NOT to take them by going to schools that don’t offer them. Automatic scholarships are there for the taking for ANY finalist. (It is not like there is another “cut” by NM that shuts out half of the finalists from scholarship opportunities.)</p>
<p>^ Yes, there are schools that offer automatic scholarships to NMF. But most NMF may opt for better schools if they can afford it. I don’t think they “choose” not to accept a Nation Merit Scholarship but choose for a better school. There are also schools that offer automatic merit aid based on test scores and GPA disregarding National Merit status too. As for NMSC, there are ~8000 for ~15,000 finalist to attend their school of choice. No one would count the scholarships offered from a school that one would not go anyway.</p>
<p>Yes, billcsho, there are plenty of NMFs who chose a different path, but likewise, many do not have that luxury, and the fact that there are automatic NMF scholarships is why many people “feel so bad” about not making it – it drastically reduces the number of affordable options for those students. There are indeed other schools that will give large scholarships on the basis of stats alone, but the fact remains that a student who doesn’t make finalist loses a lot of options.</p>
<p>I, too, thought Bill’s words were misleading.</p>
<p>*the fact that there are automatic NMF scholarships is why many people “feel so bad” about not making it – it drastically reduces the number of affordable options for those students. *</p>
<p>Absolutely. Typically the same schools that are offering those sought-after huge awards will only offer smaller awards for high SAT/ACT scores.</p>
<p>For those who NEED those big awards because “better schools” aren’t affordable, then missing out on NMF is a huge deal. </p>
<p>Bill…there are a LOT of top kids out there that have unaffordable EFCs. They may have the stats for the “best schools”, but because of: family business, non-custodial parent, or other issues, attending those schools becomes unaffordable.</p>
<p>Any NMF who absolutely needs huge merit to go to college can get a big award and go.</p>
<p>No one would count the scholarships offered from a school that one would not go anyway</p>
<p>while there are lucky kids who have such options, sometimes students do not. Sometimes they find themselves attending schools that never would have been on their radars. Bama always picks up a bunch of NMFs during the March/April timeframe when FA pkgs arrive and many find that their fave schools aren’t affordable. A number of those kids may have thought, “I’d never go to some big flagship who is always shown on ESPN!”…but they enroll and find that they love the school.</p>
<p>I was trying to downplay the role of NMF trying to tell those who get rejected not to be too disappointed. Be sensitive to the readers of a thread like this. There are indeed many other alternatives to get merit aids. And still, many NMF do not get any benefit out of that title, willingly or not.</p>
<p>Let me explain where I’m coming from and why I wanted to clarify.</p>
<p>I have been doing PSAT/SAT test prep (and ACT. . .) for 10 years. We have 5 NMFs in our immediate family, who made a variety of choices: taking about 1/3 tuition scholarship at preferred in-state public u., getting significant need-based aid at ivy, going full-pay to private school that offers NO merit aid, and two automatic full rides at OOS publics. One kid missed the cutoff, and got 2/3 tuition at a private LAC based on SAT scores (two more questions correct and that would’ve been full tuition.)</p>
<p>Every year I hear from parents AFTER the PSAT, who were told by counselors/teachers/other parents/their kids/kids’ friends, or read online, etc. that it is not important to prep for the PSAT because “ONLY about 1/2 of finalists get NM scholarships in the end, and most of those scholarships are ONLY a couple thousand.” While this is completely true, it doesn’t tell the whole story. When these parents realize that their kid (who just missed the cutoff by a couple points) could’ve signed up for a full ride, they always say, “Really?! . . .But I heard that the scholarships were small. . .They said it was just a practice test! How come no one told me about this?!” </p>
<p>I didn’t want anyone who might read this thread to misunderstand what is available. Sure, we don’t want people to feel bad if they just missed the NMSF cutoff, or didn’t make finalist. (I’ve been there . . .There are other options, but it still hurts to be that close and miss). It is reasonable to be upset because this is a significant loss for those who were hoping for that scholarship.
While I am fully aware that many NMFs choose top schools that don’t offer much if any merit aid, I just want people to be aware that these big automatic scholarships are still there for the taking, and that prepping for the PSAT is worth it.</p>