<p>when i say good school im pretty much talking about the ivy league schools/stanford, duke, etc.. im just curious because it seems like very very few people get accepted that dont get at least PSAT commended scholar. the only person i know of right now is my friend who got a 201 on PSAT and then eventually 2230 SAT and got accepted to Stanford.</p>
<p>how important is this on a college app. and anybody else have any similar stories?</p>
<p>Remember that there's a big difference between being a NM finalist, and being commended.</p>
<p>not THAT big of a difference... but im more interested in those who didnt get national merit commended</p>
<p>well, 15000 peole get NMF, whereas 50000 get commended. And I know many people who got into schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Penn without being NMF.</p>
<p>I wasn't commended (200) and I got into Tufts.</p>
<p>I wasnt anything and Im going to Brown.</p>
<p>Good choice, bobbobbob. Hope you enjoy Providence, and eventually learn to control your seething white-hot rage over not getting into Penn and Princeton.</p>
<p>That swimfan chick in the movie "The Perfect Score" wanted to get into Brown so at least you kicked her ass :)</p>
<p>I wasn't commended or anything, because I bombed the PSATs (had no idea what I was doing, spent time reading directions, etc.). I got into Harvard. But I did get a high real SAT score (2370) and triple 800 SATIIs...</p>
<p>I think SATs are far more important than Psats.</p>
<p>flipsta_g, im assuming you studied a lot for the SATs then? and if you dont mind, what exactly did you get on the PSAT?</p>
<p>I was not even close to being commended (201) and got into Duke. My actual SAT score is 2150. </p>
<p>What's really funny is that all of the NMF's at my school are going to UF.</p>
<p>everyone i know, including every single ivy and every single top 10 LAC.</p>
<p>um iwas commended (got like 213 i think)</p>
<p>on the actual SATs i got a 2310
was accepted to NU, Uchicago, USC (full ride)
and im going to BU for the 7 year accelerated med program</p>
<p>PSATs don't matter at all for admissions. It is a nice honor and can mean money from some schools, but the Merit designation doesn't carry the day at the highly selective schools. The SAT score trumps anything PSAT related.</p>
<p>PSAT doesn't matter
I was commended 209 but am going to a better school than any of the NMFs. Going to COlumbia btw.</p>
<p>nothing.....going to pomona</p>
<p>darther, I got 192 on the PSATs. I did study for the SATs.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure the PSAT's are unimportant. Personally, I only got a 191 (while submitting a best score of 2000 for my SAT's), nonetheless, I managed to get into: Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvey Mudd, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Tufts, Williams, and Yale. So let's just say that I'm pretty confident that NM finalist have nothing to do with getting into top tier schools.</p>
<p>^^^ WOW, no kidding!!! :) congratulations!!!!</p>
<p>NMF is good for getting loads of money at certain schools (UCF, Arizona, Alabama) - but i don't think it helps you with admissions. My son was a NMF with excellent SAT scores, great GPA with lots of APs, leadership ECs. He was rejected at Cornell and waitlisted at UVA (OOS). With lots of others just like him...</p>