Our school does a good job of telling the students about NM - perhaps TOO good as it stresses some of them out! My oldest came home from school one day (in either 9th or 10th grade) telling me all about NM. It was the first I had heard about it (I never took the PSAT as far as I recall). The NM program has been a blessing for my family.
We have lots of homeschoolers around here but you got me thinking @3scoutsmom. I don’t ever recall a local homeschool kid making NM.
@Barfly In our home school community back in the northeastern state we lived in before moving here, I think there 3 kids that got NMS the year that my older sister sister did. If I get NMS, then my mom could brag that 50% of her school has gotten it - probably 75% eventually since I am pretty certain my younger sister can do it to when it comes her turn.
That’s great, @albert69. Lots of homeschoolers in Texas make NMF, but I was just referring to our very local area. There are many homeschoolers in our immediate area - kids who are zoned to our HS. I just don’t recall ever seeing one of them make NMSF or NMF, or for that matter, even commended. I think it may be due to what @3scoutsmom suggests - the local homeschoolers may be test adverse and perhaps the kids don’t even take the PSAT.
Maybe so, @Barfly. My mom barely remembered to sign my sister up in time, and she took the test cold. But I know I wouldn’t have made it if I hadn’t studied the little bit I did.
I just spoke to a parent the other day who had absolutely no idea that the PSAT was used for such a scholarship. She was very interested, and also had no idea how her junior daughter had scored. Turns out a recent SAT run was only 1 and change, so it’s pretty unlikely she was ever in the running, but she was not happy with the lack of information from her school.
I have to admit it - I didn’t know a thing about the PSAT or National Merit until S15 showed me the paper that said he made high scorer! Hard to believe I was that uninformed (ha, ha). I then stumbled onto these threads and spent the rest of the year reading, learning, and enjoying everyone’s experiences. Luckily, I’m now much more informed & I’ll be able to help D18 through to process, minus a little bit of the stress (I hope).
@STEMFamily So today is May 1st, I have my first choice designation, and … no official award on the osa website. So does that mean I didn’t get it?
Is there anyone out there that has gotten a college sponsored award?
No news here yet @albert69. The schedule listed in the semifinalist instructions says that NMSC begins mailing offers of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards on May 1st.
If they start mailing them today, I guess we’d have to wait a few more days to find out.
@LMHS73 I called NMSC - I haven’t gotten an award yet, but that may be because the college hasn’t gotten back to them. I guess I shouldn’t give up hope until the end of May.
Agreed @albert69 - hang in there!
Wonderful. Relying on carrier pigeons once again.
School had a dinner recognizing those who were National Merit Finalists, National Merit Achievement, and National Hispanic Recognition. Each student invited a teacher that influenced them. Nice part: I didn’t have to cook but got a good meal.
Oh yeah, so we are back to waiting. My husband has been in almost constant contact with the NMS rep from UCF, so I’m not worried. However, we too are still waiting for the official paperwork. My son only changed his first choice college last Monday or so, and accepted UCF a day later.
Any chance there will be more $2500 scholarships distributed?
NMSC portal is showing D has been selected as a winner of NM University award - PDF letter dated May 1 is attached. Good luck to those waiting.
That’s great, @FromMD! Congratulations!
@FromMD - thanks for the tip! My S logged on to the portal page and there was a message on the main menu saying that he received a school-sponsored scholarship! There was also a copy of the award letter that was put in the mail on May 1st. Good Luck to everyone & go check-out the portal!
Still nothing on mine. I wonder if WSU just hasn’t decided on their scholarships yet?
Yay!!! Logged in today and my S has received a renewable 1K/year college sponsored award from Rutgers University, New Brunswick! Doing a happy dance over here!! What a long road it is to become a National Merit Scholar!! Good luck to others checking their portals.