<p>Okay, so long story short, my school sent out some letter to everyone who scored 202 or above on their PSAT (commended or SF) yesterday. On that day there was an assembly/Liturgy first thing in the morning and since I don't follow any religion, I chose to be truant and accept a detention in exchange for getting to sleep in.</p>
<p>Problem is, they announced over the PA those who had received letters from NMSC and I never picked mine up because, as mentioned earlier, I was absent. Anyone care to tell what's on the letter? I'm basically asking whether or not I should bother to go find out who has it and pick it up. If all the letter says is "Congratulations blah blah blah", I'm not going to bother since I have more important stuff to do. However, if it's required that I do something in order to become a SF (which I should based on my PSAT score), I'm probably going to have to talk with the school and get it after being redirected to ten people and wasting 2 hours. </p>
<p>I sort of got worried after I heard that you need some username/passcode to go on some website. Anyways... anyone care to summarize their letter? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Last year I did not find out anything until September or October when NM sent out the official SF letters. Check the old posts but I don’t believe state cutoffs are even out till Fall when those letters come out. So I would skip trying to track down the letter. Maybe you could ask a friend who might have got one to show you theirs. I never got any passcodes and I am a NMF with a NM scholarship. It sounds like a school letter to me. You might be able to name two schools but that means nothing until late next Spring. Just sign up for the SAT and make sure you take it by December. Good luck!</p>
<p>The letter that comes now goes to the top 50000 scorers, offering an opportunity to notify 2 colleges of your interest. Have heard it doesn’t really mean too much to some schools, it’s optional. (It’s done online, hence the passcode.)</p>
<p>In the fall, you will learn if you indeed move on to semifinalist status. If so, that you do need to pay attention to, as there are steps that must be followed by you, a parent and a school representative, with fairly short deadlines, to move forward in the competition. There’s SAT scores to forward, a respectful short essay to write, parental permission, recommendation from school/transcript, etc. Most semifinalists do advance to finalist standing…but every year, there are about 1000 who do not, for various reasons, including not jumping through the hurdles, discipline issues, grades, forgetting to send SAT scores, etc. Being a finalist does not necessarily equal a scholarship, either. Depends on lots of factors. Read the threads here, or the booklet you got with your PSAT…lots of good information about the competition and the process there.</p>
<p>To repeat it does not matter much if you send those two names in or you don’t. My S did not and it did not affect anything after that. You still have time to get that letter and nominate two schools. If you mention your state and PSAT score, one could guess if you will make it Semi Finalist and that is where it will matter you get everything done on time.</p>