<p>Hi,
Son (Class of 2012) is Semifinalist with 240 PSAT. He has 2310 in SAT from Nov of Sophomore yr. Will this old score be valid or should he retake? What goes into deciding the scholarship recipients from the Finalist pool?
thnks</p>
<p>rvadad…I hope you had a long discussion with your S about how he obviously (based on his PSAT score) slacked off on his SAT sophomore year. How he could possibly be content with a mere 2310 when he’s obviously a 2400 caliber student…ok,ok…I couldn’t keep a straight face anymore. Congrats to him and to you on the outstanding performance on both tests!!</p>
<p>Yes, his sophomore year SAT score will count. According to NMSC’s website, any SAT score between Oct of their sophomore year and Dec of senior year can count towards a “validating” score. Just make sure he fills out the paperwork package, writes the short essay, gets the letter of rec from his school, and sends his SAT score to NMSC (code #0085).</p>
<p>Regarding scholarship decisions…it depends. If he’s interested in attending a school that gives a university sponsored award, he can list them as his #1 school with NMSC and stands an excellent chance of receiving it that way. If you (or your spouse) happens to work for a company that sponsors one of the corporate awards, he could receive it through that channel. If neither of the above fits, then he would fall into the great crap shoot that is the $2500 one-time scholarship awards. I don’t know if there’s necessarily any rhyme or reason to which finalists receive those scholarships, but it’s possible that listing a non-sponsoring university (or even remaining Undecided) as his #1 may improve the chances of getting that award. The most certain recipients (if there is such a thing) are those that list a sponsoring school as their #1 or those that qualify for the corporate awards.</p>
<p>To be clear though, those are only the “official” NSMC scholarships. If he achieves Finalist status (does the paperwork, no disciplinary issues, solid overall academic record) he’ll be eligible for any of the big dollar “unofficial” scholarships that many schools offer. If you’re not aware of them, there are several threads in the National Merit forum regarding the outstanding scholarships available for NMF’s. Happy reading!!</p>
<p>Congrats again on your S’s great achievements, and good luck to him on his college search!!</p>
<p>Wolverine…lol</p>
<p>yes, this kid is a slacker, he really needs more supervision of his academics. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, Wolverine86.</p>