<p>My son is talented and gifted but due to procrastination, boredom, and forgetfullness has a 3.3 GPA. From what I have read, this is not unusual for gifted students. Last fall he took his PSAT and earned a selection index of 215. This was not a surprise, he consistently scores high in standardized tests. The cutoff last year for our state was 209. My understanding is that semifinalist selection is based solely on this score. The great unknown for us is the criteria that is used to advance to finalist. How bad can your confirming SAT scores be? Is there a minimum GPA that is used? What else do they consider in evaluating finalists? All we are interested in is being declared a finalist so we can qualify for a school sponsored award. The national merit award is not a consideration.</p>
<p>He will need a great recommendation from counselor, repeat with a fairly high sat although this year it just needed to be higher than 2000. He has to write an essay, and not be in any trouble. He is borderline with grades, so hopefully 2nd semester gpa will go up. Since 3.3 is somewhat low, He needs to make the rest of his application spectacular.</p>
<p>I know one can make it with a 3.3 - I've heard guesstimates for the minimum GPA ranging from 3.0 to 3.5. There's no cutoff that anyone has been able to determine with certainty. I would think confirming SAT scores would have to be over 2000, since that would correlate with the lowest cutoff for semifinalists. The finalist applicants also have to write an essay about leadership or something similar, and submit a report from the school. About 90% of NMSF's become NMF. Good luck next year!</p>
<p>I also don't know what the GPA cut off is. I know a friend of my daughters did not make it from semi to finalist because of grades. Don't know how bad they were though. (she has straight As first 2 years then went to a science/math school with brutal grading which brought her grades down - out of 16 kids - 2 kids in the class did not make finalist from semi). Hopefully your son can get his GPA up a little by the time the applications are submitted. I had also heard 2000ish for SAT scores but possible with more emphasis on CR/math. Good luck.</p>
<p>Nickingr, From what I have gleemed from the process, that going from a semifinalist to finalist is somewhat like having national merit check out a student and certify that he is worth the price of a major scholarship package, or entry into an ivy league. Because of that National merit does a good job of making sure the student is not only good at standardized tests, but has a track record of being a stellar student and a good citizen. Most of the time if you get to finalist, the college doesn't do a lot else toward qualifying you. They feel that being a finalist means that work has been done.</p>
<p>his sat score has to match the PSAT cut-off of his state.
that means he has to get above 2090.
i would suggest well above 2090, since his gpa is lacking.
write a stunning essay. get a beautiful rec. and hope for the best.</p>
<p>just to boast a bit. haha. 36 from my school made it to semifinalist, 36 advanced to finalist. ^___________________^</p>
<p>Evaluation of Finalist Probably Consists of Some of These Factors:
-Leadership In ECs
-GPA/Class Rank
-Recommendation
-Difficulty of Course Load
-ECs/Community Service
-SAT
-MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL-Essay!!!!</p>
<p>If it was down to 2 factors, it would be gpa/rank and essay (Same factors for college)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>If he is named a semifinalist, he should receive a packet from his high school guidance counselor or principal in the early fall (right after school starts). It outlines the requirements, and they are also outlined at the National Merit website. </p>
<p>15,000 out of 16,000 semifinalists go on to be finalists. The student is expected to either roughly match or exceed the PSAT score on the SAT(i.e. 209 s/b at least a 2090) - and has to remember to have the SAT scores sent to the National Merit Corp. Also required - an essay, transcripts and counselor recommendation. The majority of the kids who don't make the cut either fail to get their paperwork in on time (or don't bother) or have something else way out of sync with the score, i.e. failing grades. </p>
<p>Good luck to your son - he will get a boatload of mail offering him scholarships. Most of the elite schools do not sponsor NM scholarships, but it can be helpful with admission.</p>
<p>Thank you all for responding. My son will certainly make sure the entire application shines.</p>
<p>I honestly think the sat is expected to be the same for all applicants. My dd scored 222 on her psat but only 2100 on her sat, but all the rest of her application was excellent with a 4.5 gpa and many honor courses and excellent recommendations etc. she did fine. She did progress to finalist.</p>
<p>I remember that they wanted to see a copy of the high school transcript, with every grade from every quarter on it from all four years ( I have heard that a few C's do not matter.) Also,the student has to be an American citizen to be eligible for finalist.</p>