<p>I was thinking a coupel days ago
I got the NAtional Merit Finalist thing last friday
should i send a mail updating my colleges about it?</p>
<p>(im also applying to yale princeton amherst brown columbia upenn)</p>
<p>Yeah. (It might be too late for one or more colleges, but it will be helpful for any colleges that are still processing your application.)</p>
<p>I actually don't think it makes a difference as about 90% of semifinalists make it to finalist standing, and Harvard gets so many NMFs that they don't even care anymore. I didn't apply to Harvard, but the only schools that I applied to that care about NMF are the ones that give money for it, other wise, it might just bog them down during a very busy time to call about such a little thing.</p>
<p>i concur, plus they can look at your psat scores and will figure that you will get it anyway</p>
<p>^You don't send in your PSAT scores (at least not to Harvard).</p>
<p>You don't think they care? Colleges publish the number of national merit scholars in each class in their admissions literature. Even at a place like harvard, that number is rarely more than 20%. Being a national merit finalist certainly helps, and is not characteristic of the majority of harvard applicants at all. There are only 8000, and harvard has 20000 applicants every year!</p>
<p>I believe they get that number from the National Merit agency after they've accepted their freshmen class</p>
<p>I hate the tendency of modern society to judge the value of an award solely based on the number of people who have the opportunity to earn it. In response to NM awards questions on this site, most of the oldtimers(parents and current students at universities) always say that NM recognition is a very prestigious thing while high schoolers in the app process right now claim that it's not a great accomplishment just because they, most of the kids on CC, and perhaps their five best buddies(and naturally the smartest kids in the immediate area) all have attained NMSF/NMF status.</p>
<p>The problem is, most high schoolers on CC don't seem to understand basic statistics. On the surface, NMF distinction doesn't seem to be that big of a deal because 15,000 kids nationwide get it. However, if one considers that these 15,000 kids are chosen out of a pool of more than 1.2 MILLION HIGH SCHOOLERS, then this accomplishment is one to be quite proud of. Some here seem to think that winning local essay contests or random scholarships from FASTWEB are very important accomplishments since they choose OMG! "1 or 2 winners" when in reality, their significance is diminished by the mere knowledge of how few people actually enter these obscure competitions.</p>
<p>NMSC distinction, on the other hand, is a NATIONAL LEVEL HONOR and trumps the majority of locally or regionally sponsored academic/scholarship opportunities. It's something that prompts well-recognized 2nd/3rd tier colleges to give FULL/PARTIAL scholarships for heavens sake. Just because its Harvard that we're talking about here, that doesn't mean that recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Competition belongs on the last line on anyone's resume. In fact, in a recent talk with a former admissions officer of a prestigious university, I discovered that apparently National Merit recognition is the academic honor that has the most pull among admissions officers unless an applicant has a very impressive record/result in Siemens, Intel, AMC/AIME/USAMO, USABO, UScHO, USpHO, ISEF, National History Day, Scholastic Art/Writing Competitions, etc. etc.</p>
<p>Listen to your elders kiddies. They know what they're talking about.</p>
<p>FINALLY someone recognizes national history day and scholastic art / writing competitions....:)</p>