@oPhilippos Ok. I see what you mean.
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/national-merit-semifinalist-cutoffs/
I can see not where the cutoffs are different for different states.
From the official student [url=http://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/student_guide.pdf]guide[/url] (page 7):
Having gone through the admissions process with my daughter, it seems WPI valued the HS transcript slightly more than the test scores. My daughter was like @GraniteStateMom 's daughter - not NMF, but excellent test scores and a 4.0 with AP classes. She received a merit award comparable to the NMF students. I don’t think this new policy represents a huge change. I think it just gives WPI a little more flexibility with how they distribute their money. I suppose a Finalist who wants the guaranteed merit might see this as an unattractive feature. But, again, an NMF applicant with excellent grades to go with it will still get the merit award.
Kind of a misleading post.
If one reads the article, it turns out that WPI’s policy has nothing to do with the extracted quote.
WPI is a “test optional” school that offers substantial merit aid.
Whether one agrees with the rational behind the “test optional” philosophy or not, one can argue that it is logically inconsistent for a test optional school to offer a class of merit scholarships whose primary critera is a standardized test score.
The policy change just makes their policies for merit aid consistant with their policies for admission (i.e based primarily on high school academic performance).
For those who believe that standardized tests are not a strong indicator of academic performance, this will be viewed as a positive step.
For those who believe that standardized tests are a strong indicator of academic performance, this should not be an issue because if their beliefs are true, then applicants who are National Merit Winners should certainly have the academic qualifications to be eligible for merit scholarships that are based primarily on academic performance.
As long as WPI does not reduce the overall pool of merit money, then it is hard to build a logical argument against the policy change.
I agree with @GraniteStateMom that WPI is probably going to continue being generous with merit aid, but they want more flexibility than an automatic NMF-gets-$XX formula.
My basis: last spring DS was a NMF and was accepted to 5 colleges that I consider ‘peers’ to WPI: RPI, RIT, Univeristy of Rochester, Northeastern, and WPI itself. 3 of those schools (WPI, UR, NEU) gave generous NMF awards between $15K-$25K per year. The other two (RPI, RIT) give no (or just token $1K) NMF money, but gave DS equivalent merit aid $15K-$25K. So it really is a wash for many NMF-caliber students. WPI is just moving from the former to the latter category.
After reading the article, I agree with WPI’s reasoning. Why be restricted by a single test when deciding who to give merit to rather than be able to take a more holistic approach.
Seems totally congruent to do this when the school is test optional.
What about stipend money? Does the NMS not provide other funds in addition to just a $20 or $25K scholarship? A recent post on this forum (NMF student wishes to buy a car with loans) indicated that the program pays for tuition, mandatory fees, books, and $4K per semester stipend. Is the Stipend really $8k of fun money? Would the WPI scholarship include this? I doubt it.
Thoughts?
@pickpocket How do the schools get away with only giving $1K for the NMS? I thought it was an independent program that gave the money to the student to use at participating colleges? Hence why WPI might object when these students show up on campus. But you seem to indicate that a few schools only gave a token $1K. Are they allowed to do that if they participate? Just seems unfair to fight so hard on the PSAT to only end up with $1K. (I know the school added more but still). It almost sounds like those schools basically did what WPI is saying. We will give you aid determined by us and not NM.
I believe that was a UT Dallas specific scholarship plan for NMF students.
While yes, being consistent with a “test optional” policy is reasonable so WPI’s decision is understandable, many other test optional schools still require standardized test scores and use them for allocation of merit money. It is their right, and their choice.
I tend to agree with the “top 1% per state” policy, as it allows for some variance and allows students from all states to have equal footing in that they are being compared to the tow within their individual state. I am kinda ok with that. That said, I was surprised that our state, which isn’t known for its educational system and commonly ranks at the bottom of most surveys, has a consistently high NMSF threshold cutoff score.
8-|
^ Huh???
@BelknapPoint Ah. ok. I did not pick up on it being a UT Dallas specific program. I guess I am unaware of how much variation to the NMS there is out there.
I thought the whole point of getting it was it equated to an almost guaranteed money amount. If schools differ so drastically then it just seems like the students are in the same boat as everyone else who did not get it. You just need to apply and see what they give you. Strange.
Yes, the amounts given by institutions vary greatly. The corporate scholarships are, IIRC, $2500, but the colleges can offer whatever they want. Some colleges offer half or full tuition scholarships per year for NMF… My sons got very different awards. One son got $2k/year at his school. The other got $750/yr. at his.
@MassDaD68 The whole NM process is very convoluted and parts seem arbitrary.
- many, many schools give nothing to NMFs. All the tippy-tops give nothing.
- many schools give what I called "token" amount: $500-2K. Tufts and RPI, for example.
- quite a nice number of schools give substantial money $15K-$25K/yr, sometimes phrased as half-tuition or even full-tuition. This is the sweet spot where NMFs really do get rewarded.
- some companies give money to employee children who reach NMF
- only 2500 kids per year get money directly from NM, and that is a one-time $2500.
Tell me about it!! 
And remember NMF is more than just PSAT-- there’s a whole other application with reccs, transcripts, more scores, and an essay. DS made it to NMF but ultimately chose a school that gave absolutely zero. So it goes. He did have choices that would have given good money (as mentioned in #24), so we are not complaining. And the school he chose gave need-based aid that made the net cost to us about the same as at the NMF-merit scholarship schools. Strange world.
What I don’t find fair is the fact that many affluent parents enroll their kids into prep programs for PSAT while many schools and districts provide prep to their top students or their underprivileged students. This way rest of the kids get the short end of the stick. If everyone takes it without any prep then it would be a better measure of intelligence.
Seriously? The PSAT is not a difficult exam, and everything a person needs for preparation is available through a $20 study guide.
We will be full pay even when both of our kids are in college at the same time, so we could definitely afford prep programs if we thought they were worthwhile. But I think they are a waste of money. We had originally planned on “no-prep” for the PSAT as my kids had already taken the SAT earlier for a talent search and so were comfortable with the material, but they changed the format. So we spent $20 on a study guide.
Now that Khan is partnered with the CB for prep for free, I can’t see this as a valid argument that only the wealthy can afford for to prep for the PSAT.
on the one hand of course private schools can do as they choose for whatever reason they want. on the other hand with the exception of Hillsdale college and I believe grove city college all colleges feed at the taxpayer Trough so sometimes they should not be free to do whatever they please. (minus the two schools I mentioned) stopping National Merit scholarships IMO does not bother me and is also out of the realm of things the government cares about(it is a school’s choice and consequences are theirs to bear) so I say good luck to the school and I also say that when they have a major fall off in quality students coming(most people do not dream of spending 4 years in Worcester…so no incentive for high achievers like national merit your pool will be very shallow) they will reverse this in a couple of years.