<p>ooh excellent one of our alumns at harvard is on like permanent probation.</p>
<p>Conwoman-Presentation plays an important factor in how the "top applicant" from a high school with a track record is determined. For a student at a high school with no track record, presentation is even more important.</p>
<p>presentation is of utmost importance to the elite schools. i know exactly why i was rejected from the schools i was rejected from (i think).</p>
<p>Can I ask why?</p>
<p>harvard- came off as insincere (and expressed interest in engineering)
yale- my interview sucked, and so did my essay
MIT- i didnt bother to schedule an interview (bad fit)
stanford- not as sure. essay wasnt so great, and supposedly they fear east coasters taking HYPM over them and lowering their yield rate, making it harder. (too much of my application took place in princeton, id say)</p>
<p>I'm not sure that NMS winners are identified before admission letters are sent.</p>
<p>In any event, somewhere between 300-400 NMS winners eventually become members of each Harvard class. Very likely, a number of eventual winners at least that large - and maybe larger - are denied admission.</p>
<p>This should not be surprising. About 14,000 applicants for the 1,600 + spaces had 1,400 or better SAT scores, and 5,000 got 800 on the Math or Verbal sections. There were two valedictorian applicants for every space in the class.</p>
<p>Obviously, not all these super achievers can be admitted, if there are to be athletes, musicians, artists, people from 50 states and 80 foreign countries included in the mix.</p>
<p>'Has a National Merit Finalist ever been rejected from Harvard?'</p>
<p>-3 were rejected from my school this year</p>
<p>I was waitlisted and was a semifinalist</p>
<p>I was rejected, and im a semi.</p>
<p>(when is finalist released?)</p>
<p>They have been released. I think its mostly need based because this other person that was a finalist had a lower composite score than I did.</p>
<p>i guess we'll be hearing about it soon. no way theres not even one finalist of the 12 semis at my school.</p>
<p>It's not need-based. I got one, and I'm not exactly eligible for any need-based scholarships. I don't know how they determine it; maybe your essay and recommendation that the school writes has to do with it, but then again, the two other semis at my school (who are going to Stanford and Yale) didn't get anything. Heck, I don't know. I got it and I couldn't even get in to their schools. Whatever. Maybe it has to do with your SAT score, as well, as I'm pretty sure I have the highest at my school.</p>
<p>Either way, they don't use need to determine it.</p>
<p>Well, I know my essays were really good and my SAT score was almost perfect. I think what screwed me over is my school - they probably wrote a lukewarm rec since they don't seem to care at all (weren't even happy for me) and there's too much politics - they only cater to the kids with rich donating parents.</p>
<p>
[quote]
They have been released. I think its mostly need based because this other person that was a finalist had a lower composite score than I did.
[/quote]
It's definitely not need-based because:
1. they don't ask anywhere on the form for your income, tax returns, etc.
2. i received the scholarship and i definitely do not qualify for any need-based aid
also, they don't rely on composite PSAT score to determine who wins; that only determines who makes the semi-finalist cut; then they look at sat scores and whether you did the essay, rec, etc. to see if you make the finalist cut; i think the essay, rec, etc. determines who actually wins the scholarship</p>
<p>The way this scholarship is handed out seems totally random. I got one, and I listed a grand total of three EC's and awards on the application. I also wrote a BS essay where I basically listed off all my accomplishments, and then finished with a zinger about improving healthcare in the world, a topic that I hadn't addressed at all prior to the conclusion. So my essay and the ECs that I listed sucked...also, my composite was only a 225 (lol, it dropped from my soph year).</p>
<p>So I don't think there's any logical way to characterize how NMS awards are distributed.</p>
<p>for the sake of finding a pattern in NMS selection, what were the PSAT ans SAT of some winners? At my school, it does indeed appear that the highest board scores receive the award, but i dunno for sure...</p>
<p>kind of off topic... but supertara, are you indian? tara means star in hindi, was that on purpose? lol</p>
<p>My son got a National Merit scholarship...he had three 80's on his PSAT and 1600 SAT.</p>
<p>Stevezilla, I am not Indian; I'm Irish actually (among other European components), and no one can seem to tell me exactly why I was named Tara. The constant association with Scarlett O Hara's house has become quite irritating, so thanks for this more intriguing etymology. I'm definitely telling people my name means "star" from now on!</p>
<p>Wow you ppl are like Gods....I wish sooo badly to be like you....you ppl are soooo awesome...</p>
<p>no, not gods, merely ordinary kids with [mostly] enough modivation to make something good happen.</p>
<p>you can do it. :)</p>