I’m looking for what kicks out a semifinalist and am concerned because of 2 AP C grades my son got. TO his defense, he missed 8-10 days in the semester sick and was sick many of the others. Wondering why 1,000 don’t qualify and if he’ll likely be one.
I’ve heard some reasons 1000 people don’t make it is they don’t take SAT. They already have access to school they want and they don’t take the SAT. Others take and don’t qualify with score of 1980 or whatever it is. Other reasons I’ve heard are bad character/misconduct, not filling out the paperwork, and…bad grades. Heard D and F are automatic and that C’s may be but appears mixed.
So…if you didn’t make it to finalist, what got in your way? If you made it with a C and better yet, 2 Cs, do share your story.
here is a short run down of cases I’ve seen
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no qualifying SAT score…too low…I know of one student who could not get the minimum score even though his PSAT was 217 and he took the SAT multiple times. Weird.
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Grades - 1 or more C’s
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rude essay (yes, I do know of one! The student wrote a sarcastic essay about how silly it was to base NMSF status on “one test”. This student was at my kids’ high school…after that, the principal insisted on having the GC read every essay first.
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can’t get school recommendation because of suspensions, bad behavior, etc.
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didn’t bother to fill out the NMSF forms because no interest in becoming a NMF…(yes, there are kids who don’t bother).
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student has a high ACT and doesn’t want to “risk” a lower SAT score, so doesn’t take the SAT…(yes, there was a student on CC either this last year or the year before who wouldn’t take the SAT because of this reason)
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student forgets to send his SAT score to NMCorp (we hear of this OFTEN, but often this is CAUGHT before it’s too late
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(and this is sadly too often!) The high school doesn’t even tell the student that he/she made NMSF…