<p>the forms are due shortly for the juniors who have made it to the first round (commended) and are on to the next round. The forms ask for 1st and 2nd choice schools. What are your kids' choices?</p>
<p>Hey, Doesn't anyone have anything to post??? There must be a lot of parents out there in this situation.</p>
<p>If the current junior parents are afraid to post, THEN, will the current senior parents please post which schools THEIR kids put as first and second choices......</p>
<p>University of Chicago and Carleton College</p>
<p>If there were a nice online copy of the guidebook that none of us saved that came with the PSAT tests last fall, the one that lists the schools that participate by awarding NM scholarships, it would be a lot easier. As it is, we won't know what to put down until after S gets a chance to talk with his GC next week -- we're hoping they have a copy of that publication in the guidance office.</p>
<p>My older son didn't put any school down at this point. In fact he waited until the last possible minute in the spring when he had his schools narrowed down to 3. Only 2 of them gave NM money, so he listed those schools.</p>
<p>My son put down UAz & AzSu. Both offer full-rides to NMFs. They don't track interest, so in hindsight, it probably might have been better to list a school like Rice that tracks interest & gives some merit money (tho son wasn't interested in Rice at that time). USoCal gives nice merit aid for NMFs, as does Santa Clara & BostonU. There are lists in the merit aid threads or you can check the schools your child is interested in & find out what their NM policies are.
The schools you list at this point are NOT binding.</p>
<p>Here's one thread about NMF scholarship schools. There are others if you search/google.</p>
<p>Good luck & congrats!</p>
<p>Am confused -- what forms?
S got a score which may put him in the running for NMSF -- our high school will let him know in the fall. Is there anything we're supposed to be doing ourselves, from home? Haven't heard anything from College Board.</p>
<p>lspf72, there is a form from National Merit (called "College Plans Reporting Service") that has the student's name, ID#, etc. on it, and has a tear-off or a password that can be used on a website to indicate 2 schools to which the student wants their name to be sent. The deadline for submitting the form, or information online, is May 17th.</p>
<p>My S was given this form by his school guidance counselor. It was in an envelope from National Merit Scholarship Corporation, and had his name and address showing through the window, although the GC handed it out during a counseling period. It does not indicate Commended/Semi-Finalist designation; that will come from the school in the fall. I'd encourage your S to ask his GC whether those forms came to the school, or how he can get his. I think they do get sent to the school, which either hands them out or mails them on to the students.</p>
<p>Our HS hands them out to the kids as well around this time of junior year. I think only homeschooled kids have theirs sent to the homes. The College Counseling office and/or guidance counselor of the school should have these forms for the students at the school that qualify. Generally, everyone who gets one is at least a Commended scholar & the higher scorers may be Semi-Finalists, which you'll officially be notifed about in the fall of senior year.</p>
<p>Son received his envelope when the principal called him and the others down to his office. Inside the envelope was a letter and a form to fill out and return.</p>
<p>Now here's a related question. My son already knows he will not qualify as a Semi-Finalist in the fall, but he's quite proud of having qualified as Commended!! He <em>wants</em> to put down 2 schools to send the notification to, but I know that, in reality, this usually only matters if the student will be named a Semi-Finalist/Finalist eventually.</p>
<p>Do some/most/any schools still welcome this input even from students that do <em>not</em> become S-F/F? Will the 2 schools he lists make note of this fact, as a demonstration of interest (and some measure of ability, at least as far as standardized test-taking goes)?</p>
<p>Wow, thanks so much, mootmom. I will put in a call to his guidance counselor. He is our oldest, and we are already learning a lot by trial and (unfortunately) error --
For example -- a word to the wise for parents of juniors taking their first SAT exam--
Do NOT automatically fill in four schools as recipients for your SAT scores as we did. S. was unsure how he did on the exam, so we did not even think to remove them by the deadline after the test. Now the first and only information his favorite schools have about him is a low SAT score -- way down from PSAT level. What a foolish mistake.</p>
<p>Oh - Thanks also, Himom and JLauer !</p>
<p>ISpf72. Not a foolish mistake and not to worry! The school will not even LOOK at those scores until he applies next year. By then he will have taken the SATs again, and you will (should) send the scores again. There is no score choice for SATs - schools see ALL accumulated scores - so if you had waited to send the scores until after son takes the test again, they would still see all the scores. Schools only consider the best scores. You didn't do anything wrong. :)</p>
<p>Thanks, I have been kicking myself ever since! My sister down in MD, whose son is the same age, did the same thing.</p>
<p>i think the best option is to put down the 2 schools that your son/dau is currently considering their top choice. if your child goes on he will have to indicate again. at that point, worry not, as you can change your designation at will. imho it is best (in the fall) to list a school that gives national merit aide. but should your child decided to attend a school other than the one he listed, he has time after March 31st to make any changes. congratulations. in any case, are in order! this is not a stressful thing, as all colleges to which your child applies will learn on his/her appl that he/she has been given this honor. GL! i have the 2004 list of schools, but there have been changes...</p>
<p>I got one and am thoroughly confused as to which school to put down. The Guidance Department at my high school is a total joke, and I was wondering if you guys could help. This is my tentative list of schools I want to apply to, I have Canadian citizenship as well as American, and I will have to rely heavily on merit aid.</p>
<ol>
<li>McGill</li>
<li>Barnard College</li>
<li>University of Chicago</li>
<li>Boston University</li>
<li>Lewis and Clark</li>
<li>UBC</li>
<li>Another safety on the NW, not so sure about that one</li>
<li>Macalester? Maybe?</li>
</ol>
<p>The counselor who gave us the paper said that we should use it on the more difficult to get into schools, but I don't really know how important it is, and I also don't want to give it to a school that'll ignore it. </p>
<p>Help!!</p>
<p>Thanks for this thread. My DS told me his GC gave him the letter but with all the hubbub about prom etc we both forgot there was a deadline for choosing. Better dig out the letter! He is mostly looking at CA public schools, which presumably do not track interest, but will think about what 2 private schools, which presumably do, to put down. If anyone comes up with a current list of NM $$ schools, I'm sure many would appreciate a posting here or on a new thread.</p>
<p>Also, does anyone have data points on historic cutoffs between commended and semi-finalist scores? I just have one old one from the Ivy West website: "For California students, the 1998 Commended Students had selection indices from 199-214. Semifinalists had selection indices of 215 and above." It varies by state and by year, but I was just trying to get a sense of ranges. Thanks.</p>
<p>Here's a thread about cut-offs:</p>
<p>Here's a thread about good merit aid schools:</p>
<p>Two privates in CA where my NMF son got good aid (1/2 tuition) were USoCal & Santa Clara U (didn't list either as a junior). I believe generous merit aid is also available at Seattle U, USanF & others. I don't know which of these schools track interest but my son only toured Santa Clara U (summer after junior year). </p>
<p>Good luck & congrats. If you google, you may be able to find more threads about good merit aid schools.</p>
<p>Here is the list from an earlier thread.<br>
2005 Cutoff index, #of semi. finalist, # commended::::2004 cutoff index, # semi, # Commended</p>
<p>AL,210,233,226::::208,247,201,</p>
<p>AK,211,40,51::::210,39,43,</p>
<p>AZ,211,271,339::::212,222,375,</p>
<p>AR,202,158,16,</p>
<p>CA,216,1869,4338::::216,1913,4509,</p>
<p>CO,213,234,448::::211,243,430,</p>
<p>CT,220,184,821::::219,207,904,</p>
<p>DE,220,184,821::::217,40,120,</p>
<p>FL,214,688,1390::::214,690,1457,</p>
<p>GA,217,378,1076::::214,398,904,</p>
<p>HA,216,68,191::::214,73,156,</p>
<p>ID,208,96,72::::204,92,46,</p>
<p>IL,216,694,1752::::214,726,1676,</p>
<p>IN,212,344,577::::211,339,518,</p>
<p>IA,209,208,212::::207,206,179,</p>
<p>KS,214,177,354::::212,191,274,</p>
<p>KE,210,234,231::::210,231,255,</p>
<p>LA,209,254,217::::209,274,266,</p>
<p>ME,214,83,172::::211,79,134,</p>
<p>MD,222,331,1677::::222,325,1486,</p>
<p>MA,222,333,1668::::222,337,1771</p>
<p>MI,210,591,632::::209,557,636,</p>
<p>MN,215,321,746::::212,366,606</p>
<p>MS,203,154,21::::200,165,0,</p>
<p>MO,213,344,532::::212,353,511,</p>
<p>MT,207,67,56::::206,64,58,</p>
<p>NB,208,125,87::::205,125,98,</p>
<p>NV,207,89,57::::204,87,36,</p>
<p>NH,215,75,167::::213,71,150,</p>
<p>NJ,221,480,2170::::221,492,2275,</p>
<p>NM,209,108,92::::208,108,84,</p>
<p>NY,218,955,2901::::218,956,3069,</p>
<p>NC,216,387,955::::213,361,760,</p>
<p>ND,204,50,16::::202,53,10,</p>
<p>OH,214,675,1303::::212,723,1233,</p>
<p>OK,208,224,162::::206,222,141,</p>
<p>OR,214,184,368::::213,176,393,</p>
<p>PA,215,757,1603::::215,722,1840,</p>
<p>RI,211,55,94::::213,61,122,</p>
<p>SC,213,190,354::::211,206,296,</p>
<p>SD,205,54,26::::206,60,35,</p>
<p>TN,216,258,569::::213,273,520</p>
<p>TX,216,1273,2810::::216,1248,2936,</p>
<p>UT,204,181,49::::200,196,0</p>
<p>VA,219,413,1462::::219</p>
<p>VT,213,42,97::::213,41,107,</p>
<p>WA,216,313,853::::214,350,755,</p>
<p>WV,202,108,9::::201,114,8,</p>
<p>WI,211,378,475::::209,373,419,</p>
<p>WY,203,35,10::::200,37,0,</p>
<p>D.C,222,85,215::::222,80,243,</p>
<p>Territories,202,30,3::::200,27,0</p>
<p>Outside US,222,49,337::::222,45,344,</p>
<p>Total semifinalist:</p>
<p>2005: 16,146, Total commended: 35,985</p>
<p>2004: 16,326. Total commended: 35,489.</p>