<p>We sit here wondering. Our son's Selection Index is one point above last year's cutoff for our state (IL). The HS district is one that makes a big deal about semi-finalists, finalists, and scholarship winners with press releases. And yet, the last eight months have been very frustrating. After the PSAT scores were released, we expected something from the school along the lines of "this was a qualifying score last year and if he makes it, here is what to expect". Probably a suggestion to take the SAT in the spring since taking it would be required and being in IL, is not taken by many (he did anyway and has a safe score). But absolutely nothing. Come April, we had to ask for "The Letter". If we hadn't, I feel like it might have been weeks before they passed it on. And now we sit wondering again, as again we've heard nothing from them (and yes, he is back in school as of a few days ago). It's as if the GC has not a clue as to the significance of his PSAT score. If it were not for the available Internet resources, we would not have a clue.</p>
<p>Am I unrealistic about what I think the school should be doing? For those of you with high scores, after the PSAT scores were released, did your HS make you aware of the significance of the score and provide some guidance for what you needed to be doing? Or is this fend for yourself normal?</p>
<p>If your son qualified, he will receive notification of National Merit Semifinalist status soon. Yeah, schools have a lot to do, so they may not always be extremely helpful.</p>
<p>My high school didn’t make a big deal about it at all…I didn’t understand the process or anything until I looked it up on the internet. It’s weird, because so many people here have been saying that their schools make a huge deal out of it and brag about the number of NMSFs they have. My school, unfortunately, doesn’t care much about academics, only athletics. :(</p>
<p>Cary, I am in agreement with you. My D, also in Illinois, has a 218, so we are very hopeful. (especially in light of an earlier post) This is a big deal for us, b/c my husband’s company gives big $$$ to semi finalists and finalists. </p>
<p>DD is hoping for a California university, and they require the SAT, so she has taken it twice. It would have been nice if our High School had recommended, in light of her PSAT score, that we send her SAT scores to the National Merit Org. Thank goodness for this blog, or I would not have known to do it.</p>
<p>Our high school also makes a huge deal of NMSF and take their share of the credit for having NMSFs. Just as you do, I wish that they had a process in place, so we could be prepared if she is fortunate enough to bring the packet home next week.</p>
<p>Thank you so very much to all the CC bloggers who have really helped me more than any other source through this whole process.</p>
<p>I also had to send my daughter to the GC to get the letter in April. She was sent to 3 different offices because nobody knew what she was talking about. She finally found the person who had them and hadn’t distributed any of them because they thought it wasn’t important. Two years ago my daughter’s high school had 11 semifinalists but only 3 finalists! I don’t trust them and I’m not relying on them for anything period. Thank you internet!!</p>
<p>many schools are very lax and some are “on top of everything.”</p>
<p>If your son doesn’t get a packet within a week or two…ask. </p>
<p>And, if your school seems lazy, then make sure you follow up and make sure stuff gets sent back on time.</p>
<p>Honestly…I think when a school has a administration that is lax about this process, it’s because they have a bad attitude about NMSF/NMF…either because they never came close to making it and/or their kids didn’t.</p>
<p>My school never really may a big deal out of this. The while school had to take it but nothing was ever followed up on. We had some people advance so i guess you just had to do it on your own. We are a pretty big/good school too. PSAT never seemed to mean much anyway, except to get $</p>
<p>Lindsay what you said about athletics is so true for a lot of schools. Before we relocated, it was like that at the school my kids came from. But now they are in a very good public school which is on top of everything including academics. Their counseling department is really hands on in guiding the seniors in the college process and they are very proud of their National Merit finalists.</p>
<p>My kid’s HS only cares about being able to put it in their profile that they have X NMSF and F. Other than that they barely acknowledged anything to the kids, discarded the packets and application instructions, made mistakes on the application; the administration did not take responsibility for handing out the Scholar award when it was sent to the school, and did not send out the press release. They did not understand the process and did not want to learn. It was clearly not a big deal to them. If it were an athletic award there would have been a headline and a parade, on the other hand. </p>
<p>If your school is like ours, make sure you check the application well.</p>
<p>I bought a cake and some confetti for our SF/F/Scholar and we had a family celebration.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, my school usually gets quite a few semifinalists and finalists, but I rarely ever get to talk to a GC about anything. The office is normally empty.</p>
<p>All these stories of schools that don’t know what it is or think it’s junk mail is shocking. But given that, why the heck isn’t NMSC also mailing directly to the student. If not the whole packet, a heads up “congratulations” letter that suggests they contact their GC or principal. From these stories, it seems a clear that a lot of the SFs who don’t make Finalist are due to failure of the HS and not of the student. I wonder how many SFs never know they were a SF because the school screwed up?</p>
<p>Cary, again, I am in complete agreement. It’s the student’s effort, test, and score, and not the school’s. Why they are given complete custody of it is beyond me.</p>
<p>*Two years ago my daughter’s high school had 11 semifinalists but only 3 finalists! I don’t trust them and I’m not relying on them for anything period. Thank you internet!! *</p>
<p>Bizarre. It’s unlikely that 8 didn’t make it because of grades or discipline issues. It sounds like no one talked to these kids about the importance of doing the paperwork, taking the SAT, and having scores sent to NMCorp.</p>
<p>Last year my D took the PSAT as a freshman for the practice. I knew from this forum that the schools should have received the scores in early Dec. I asked the GC and she said she had them and had planned to distribute them in Jan after the holidays…but that I was more than welcome to come pick up my D’s score, which I promptly did!</p>
<p>It truly is amazing how some GCs don’t care… You can believe I will be contacting her again this December to get my D’s score.</p>
<p>While I’m sure my son will make NMSF because of his high score, I called his guidance office to ask what the process is so I could plan a little family celebration. They rudely cut me off mid sentence and said the kids would be notified and basically hung up on me. S worked hard to get his score but his high school has always been unresponsive about recognizing student achievements.</p>
<p>Mrdysart, I have a feeling your situation is not uncommon. I seem to get the same vibe from school staff when inquiring about things pertaining to academics. It’s not like we stalk them. What’s the harm in one phone call inquiry?</p>
<p>Regarding the horror stories pertaining to negligence on the part of the school, that is just really sad. I remember my daughter (who is a junior now) inquiring about her PLAN test result and GC could not find any record of her taking it. She even paid the fee. Called the organization itself and they have no record so it seems GC failed to turn in the exam itself.</p>
<p>I think, given the huge amount of stress our seniors are about to go through (with the college search), the schools should give out all the “at-a-boys!” and encouragement they can. The staff at my son’s school is jaded and uncaring, in general. Shame. So the accolades need to come only from us, the parents.</p>
<p>Though my D’s school makes a fairly big deal out of the NM announcement, (they put the SF’s and commended student’s photos in the main hall in a large, framed sort of poster/photo – I know, kind of over-the-top) the GCs don’t really encourage potential finalists to take advantage of the great scholarships available. My D’s counselor didn’t know about MANY of the full tuition opportunities. While I know there are some counselors out there who are quite knowledgeable and do everything they can to help our kids though this process, don’t rely solely on GCs for a lot of direction – many are spread too thin to provide pertinent info. These CC threads may be your best bet.</p>