Will Cut Off Essay Disqualify Me For Finalist?

Paying for College National Merit Aid
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Hey all - I completed my NM application to be a finalist back in October, but recently went back into the portal to check on it. When I opened up the PDF of my application, I realized that the last line of my essay is cut off.

I remember religiously checking the essay preview when turning in my application to make sure that my essay was not getting cut off and making sure it all fits. However, in the pdf of my online application, the last line still does not show up. In fact, I can highlight and copy-paste the last line of my essay from the pdf document, although it is invisible (like white text on a white background) on the document itself.

My essay shows up ending with the following: Instead of labeling people as “weird”, it is

My two concluding sentences are not showing up, and as you can see the last sentence that shows up is an incomplete thought.

Do y’all think this will disqualify me from becoming a national merit finalist? The rest of my application is strong, including a 4.0 UW 4.75 W GPA, a 35 on the ACT, and a 1510 on the PSAT. The part of my essay that shows up is alright as well.

Thanks for any help.

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I can’t imagine that it would. They are looking at your entire application. Try not to worry. By this time next month, you should know for certain (those not becoming finalists are notified in January), but in the meantime, focus on all of the things that you have accomplished!

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My son’s essay did the same thing – fine when he submitted it, lost the last line in the actual application. I am guessing it’s a common issue that will have zero effect on your application. Regardless, common belief is that the essay doesn’t matter for NMSF to NMF, only for the NM-sponsored scholarships.

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Thanks for the response. Has anyone else had the issue of their essay’s last line being cut off on the pdf preview? I would think that it is a pretty big problem that NM should address if so. I have heard of others emailing NM regarding their essay being cut off and NM saying that there was nothing they could do, but maybe this being a widespread problem could change that.

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