My D has NM Commended status with a score of 210, but her school never said a peep. The district sent out an email congratulating the 2 students at the school who made semifinalist ststus, but they never actually notified the students themselves (one is my D’s good friend, who heard it from her mom when the district email went out). Isn’t that strange? I wouldn’t have even known my D was Commended if I didn’t read it here!
Never mind, I’m so sorry, I misread the post. I thought your D was a semifinalist. Congratulations still!
@smcirish Official commended notification is usually a few weeks after NMSF notification.
I would be more worried if I was the friends mom. I think the high school has to do some things for the NMF application.
^ This. I hope the school is more organized in helping to get all the supporting documentation for finalist done.
My son is also commended and we haven’t heard a word. The semi-finalists have been notified, however.
We haven’t heard anything either. With my D15 (different school), I had to ask the school if she was commended. I guess they assume that if you met the minimum SI number and you’re not NMSF, then you already know you’re.
I too would prefer some acknowledgment.
Maybe this school district prefers the notice to come from the district level rather than the school level first? It would only seem strange to me if one student was notified by the school and the other by the district.
Spykid is at a private school, so no district hierarchy in play. It’s not that big of a deal, he just wants to be able to officially put it on his app.
My daughter received a small certificate at school today that says she is commended, and was told she could now put that on her college apps. I already knew her status anyway thanks to CC!
Back when my D was in high school, the school didn’t notify her she was semi-finalist till the day before the app for finalist was due. She had to scramble to put it together. Apparently it was “sitting on the principal’s desk” and got lost.
Then, at NHS night a few weeks later, they made a huge deal about the students who were commended, but not a peep about D. Because she was still in the running for finalist, and no one was paying attention.
I went up to the teachers running the thing to ask why she was not mentioned, and they said, “IF this is true, we’re sorry.”
Subsequently, the school went to great lengths to recognize her to make up for it (NMSF and Finalist are very rare at our school.) But the disorganization was disturbing.
I think there are so many scholarships these days it is difficult for GCs who have huge loads to keep up. That said our little town newspaper just published the names of the semi-finalists this week.
Yay for your daughter @2kidsinky! That’s all Spykid wants, is confirmation for his app. Still crickets here, sadly.
@Agentninetynine We received notification plus a certificate in the mail two days ago (homeschoolers so I’m the principal of record). Your kid’s school should receive it soon if not already.
The white envelope is about 6x9", with the school address and Attention:Principal on the address sticker. The envelope is also printed with “Certificate Enclosed To Be Opened By Principal Only”. It was sent first-class mail.
Thanks @WhereIsMyKindle. I overheard at back to school night over a week ago that a student had been named a Semi finalist so surprised they haven’t said anything about commended. Maybe it’s not a thing at his school.
That must have been really annoying, garland, #10. I have the impression that the local school board thought that it was better to be a National Merit Commended Scholar than to be a Semi-Finalist, as if the Semi-Finalists were runners-up to be Commended. A friend of mine used to joke that she was a “National Merit Condemned Scholar.”
I don’t know, momofthreeboys, I see the National Merit Scholarship as something significant, beyond a local group’s scholarship or one offered by a college. There are not so many national scholarships that are offered to students without requiring particular socio-economic or demographic status to qualify.
I don’t think our school system notified us of DS’s commended status but that was several years ago so I may be misremembering. DS’s school had 132 semifinalists his year (220 in the entire district) so I think the list would have been much too long if they included commended students as well!
I know the district issues a press release with all semifinalists and their schools (that’s how I looked up how many were semifinalists from DS’s year).
I also know that the GCs held sessions with the semifinalists to walk them through the finalist application process.
Don’t get me wrong Garland, I think it is an honor…and not every scholarship gets a kid’s name in the newspaper, but there are alot of scholarships these days. And it might be state specific with regard to NMS. It doesn’t mean much to UofM who said in the media a while back that their incoming class on average had better scores than National merit Award scholars…but that is UofM and it’s collective ego… Michigan State has a number of donor funded scholarships for National Merit Award finalists but it’s possible they are need based. Personally I think it’s a miss whenever a high school doesn’t acknowledge a certain level of academic achievement which includes doing well on the SAT or the ACT test. whether or not it garners you $$ at a particular college or uni. I think the small LACs might be better at financial rewards.
^ 
I mean it’s been years and we got past it, honestly, But when the subject comes up, i do remember how headscratching it was. Plus, we’re a very moderate-income, noncompetitive district. In the scheme of things around here, it was sort of a big deal. As her life has gone on since, less so.
Update: D’s school mailed home a very nice letter and the certificate from the National Merit Scholarship Program. They said she will be recognized at the senior awards ceremony next May, so at least she feels comfortable now writing it on her college apps. All is well!