Hello, I’m a senior waiting for the nm finalist results to come out in February. I am unsure if I will become a finalist because of my grades. I have 4 semester B’s, 1 semester C and the rest A’s. I have good extracurriculars with decent leadership and volunteer experience. My essay was also decent. Do you think I will be a finalist?
Your academic record is a big part of winning national merit.
You need the recommendation of your principal.
For reference: Our son was a NM winner.
He had a great relationship with the Principal who often sought our son out to introduce new students to the school. The teachers and coaches had great letters of recommendation for for him. He had sports awards, academic awards, was an tutor and ardent volunteer, and had a near perfect SAT. He was in the top three students at our 2000+ students school. The top five students at his school became finalists.
You can always ask your principal. By now, the Principal should know you well.
1 Like
The application deadline was in early October. He already submitted the application and got the recommendation letter back in fall. His question is if one C could lead to him not becoming a NMF.
@SonofGod1 I read of a few students who had one C and became NMFs, but I don’t think it’s a sure thing. Look through the past threads. You will find a few mentions of Cs there.
Good luck! I hope it works for you.
Every year, approximately 16,000 students qualify as National Merit Semifinalists via their PSAT score. Of those semifinalists, 15,000 ultimately become finalists, meaning only 1,000 out of 16,000 fail to become finalists. Figure a good chunk of those 1,000 kids don’t even bother applying because they don’t want to write the essay, get a confirming score etc … Assuming you put the effort in on the application to become a finalist, I don’t think a single C is going to sink you.