<p>I just got my finalist letter today (t was mailed on the 9th, but we havent gotten mail for a while due to snowstorms)</p>
<p>so for the 2500 NM scholarships worth $2500 each, does this mean that 50 will be awarded per state? Because that is just not fair (considering the population disparities among states). or does the "state representational basis" imply that the scholarships will be distributed based on state populations?</p>
<p>I would guess that they’d be distributed proportionately - based on how many NMFs are per state.</p>
<p>I think based on the NMF’s per state makes sense, as the NMF’s per state is actually based on the number of High school students in that state (not the number who take the PSAT). So that would be consistent with the criteria for awarding semi-finalist status.</p>
<p>from National Merit Student Guide: </p>
<p>“These awards are unique because every Finalist is considered for one and winners are named in every state and other selection units. The number awarded in each state is determined by the same representational procedure used to designate semifinalists. Finalists compete with all other Finalists in their state for one of the 2500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships.”</p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s by state population though… how exactly did they choose the semifinalists?</p>
<p>Not state population but by the number of HS seniors in that state. This includes students who did not take the PSAT (as I understand). So this will not match the population of state precisely.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Actually, I think the number does correlate to the number of juniors who take the PSAT in a given state. Typically, the top 1% of PSAT-taking students make NMSF in each state.</p>
<p>^^^^^</p>
<p>No, mazewanderer is correct in that the number of NMSFs per state is proportional to the number of high school seniors. The $2500 awards are also proportional to both numbers, so an average (6M) population state will have about 300 NMFs and 50 $2500 scholarship winners.</p>
<p>It is NOT proportional to the number taking the test, as students in some states are much more likely to take the ACT only and never take the PSAT or SAT. To give an example, in 2009, there were 60,591 HS seniors in Massachusetts (pop. 6.6M) who took the SAT (don’t have numbers handy for the PSAT, so I’m using the SAT as a proxy), yet in similarly populated Wisconsin (pop. 5.7M), there were 3192. This is a big reason why the qualifying scores in some states are so much lower than in others - they’re awarding nearly the same number of NMSFs in Wisconsin to a much smaller pool of applicants than Massachusetts. If another 3192 Wisconsin students took the test, and they were equally qualified to the group which actually took the test, then only the top half of qualifiers from the actual group would have qualified at a higher score. And we’d still only be testing about one tenth of the MA number.</p>
<p>The HS DS attended had 26 NMSFs and 8 $2500 winners last year - about 1/6 of Wisconsin’s allocation. This is a public school drawing from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds, with an admittedly large group of kids from academic achiever backgrounds (UW-Madison prof’s kids, for one). My point, though, is that many schools in Wisconsin don’t push the PSAT or SAT. If more of the best students around the state tested, the qualifying scores would jump dramatically. It’s not valid to assume you’d have another 57,000+ equally qualified students (on the whole) in Wisconsin, as those who actually take the PSAT and SAT there are much more likely to be higher caliber students than average, but you get the point.</p>
<p>To get back on topic, bottom line is if you make NMF in ANY state, you have a 1 in 6 chance of geting the $2500 scholarship.</p>
<p>^ So is it random, then? Or do they actually go through each kid’s application and evaluate him/her based on the SAT scores, recs, essay, etc etc? Because the latter process seems reallyyyy time consuming…</p>
<p>Not random at all. From the NMSC website:</p>
<p>“All winners of Merit Scholarship® awards (Merit Scholar® designees) are chosen from the Finalist group, based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishmentswithout regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. A variety of information is available for NMSC selectors to evaluatethe Finalist’s academic record, information about the school’s curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, school official’s written recommendation, information about the student’s activities and leadership, and the Finalist’s own essay.”</p>
<p>[National</a> Merit Scholarship Program](<a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php#winner]National”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php#winner)</p>
<p>Also:</p>
<p>“National Merit® $2500 Scholarships. These awards are unique because every Finalist is considered for one and winners are named in every state and other selection units. The number awarded in each state is determined by the same representational procedure used to designate Semifinalists. Finalists compete with all other Finalists in their state for one of the 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Winners are selected by a committee of college admission officers and high school counselors.”</p>
<p>[Student</a> Guide to the PSAT/NMSQT](<a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/student_guide.pdf]Student”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/student_guide.pdf)</p>