Our son scored a 215 in Missouri and will likely be a semifinalist for Missouri, given no year to date has been over 214 that we can see and many are under 209. His test shows 99% for state. Assuming that’s true, he’ll need to validate with an SAT. He recently got his ACT back with 35 and is confident on his SAT just completed. The concern is his grade point which is about a 3.4 unweighted and 4.3 weighted I believe. This includes all IB Curricula through end of Junior Year and 5 of those classes were AP classes as well. My question, assuming recommendation and moral character, will his grades which are low for the scores knock him out of Finalist standings?
How many Cs does he have? He only needs a 1960 on the SAT it to qualify, so I wouldn’t be too worried about that. As for the grades, multiple Cs sometimes can be a killer, though they probably would take into account the rigor of the courses to some extent.
Two C’s in AP classes
I think your son has a fairly good chance, but it is uncertain because NMSC sometimes seems to fall apart over Cs. They were in rigorous classes however. Try to make sure all his other grades remain As and Bs. Usually there are about 16,000 Semifinalists and 15,000 become Finalists, so it’s a pretty high percentage. Congratulations on him likely being a NMSF in any case! He can even get some scholarships just for that at some colleges.
Are those C’s semester grades or quarter grades?? Does his school put only year-end grades on transcripts or semester or quarter grades???
this is a sticky situation. Another mom here was happy that her DD made NMF, but her son never progressed beyond NMSF because he had a C or two in an AP class (which wasn’t even needed! So unfair!)
Her DD went to Alabama on their big NMF scholarship. Her son also went to Bama, but he was “only” given free tuition plus $2500 per year (the 2500 for engineering)
Thanks for my laugh of the day @albert69!
I can just visualize the dad saying to you “Yes sir, I will get right on that!” And I can visualize you, a year ago, listening to a parent tell you, “son listen, this is important, you need to make nothing but A’s and B’s this year!” [“Oh, OK, I guess I can START trying now!”]
Thanks for the laugh!
@ItsJustSchool You’re welcome!
OP, I would hope for the best but not count on it. If you look at this year’s thread, you will see that a couple of kids (and parents!) were sweating a C. I wish they would be more transparent about it, but they are not. Good luck to your son!
I was wrong. Average unweighted is 3.59,not 3.4 Weighted is 4.34.
Two C’s came after missing 14.5 days in Junior year while carrying AP US history, IB Pre Calc, AP Physics, IB/AP Computer Science, IB/AP English, IB/AP Spanish at a US News ranked, Blue Ribbon, Daily Beast top rated High School in America
I don’t know what the essay prompt is for the application but I would find a way to work the explanation of the Cs via the absence into the essay. I would also visit with the GC or whoever is writing the recommendation to see if they can address it in the recommendation.
There is a spot in the application for the school administrator to say something about the student or the school or something. Perhaps get the GC to write something in there once the application opens in fall.
<<<
I was wrong. Average unweighted is 3.59,not 3.4 Weighted is 4.34.
Two C’s came after missing 14.5 days in Junior year while carrying AP US history, IB Pre Calc, AP Physics, IB/AP Computer Science, IB/AP English, IB/AP Spanish at a US News ranked, Blue Ribbon, Daily Beast top rated High School in America
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Better UW…good.
Are those C’s semester grades?
Hopefully there are some past NMSFs who had C’s will chime in here and report whether any special circumstances (illness, etc) helped them still become a NMF.
I hate to see kids not make NMF because of a C or two because we NEVER hear of any homeschooling kids not make NMF because of a C or two.
@mom2collegekids Home schooled kids also have an interesting time finding people to write LoRs for them since they can’t just ask their teacher or GC. And some home school students do get Bs and Cs, just perhaps not the ones here on CC.
I also scored a 215 on the PSAT and live in Missouri. I don’t think that a C in an AP class will be penalized in the NM scholar competition. It seems like every high school weights AP classes so that a C in an AP class is equivalent to a B in a regular class. College Boards wants to encourage students to take AP classes. I am fairly certain they will consider those AP classes as B’s when they review your son’s qualifications.
Let’s just hope that the Missouri cutoff remains below 215!
^^
@rbkgeneral You aren’t “fairly certain.” You are merely hoping.
We’ve been tracking this stuff for many many many cycles. We’ve seen kids not make NMF for ONE C in an AP class.
I’ve been tracking this since 2005. How long have you been tracking this?
@albert69 <<<And some home school students do get Bs and Cs, just perhaps not the ones here on CC.<<
I’m not referring to the average run of the mill home-schooled student. I’m talking about ones who are NMSF. After tracking NMSF/NMF stuff for 10 years, I’ve never seen a homeschooled NMSF not make NMF over grades. However, I’ve seen a good number of traditional school NMSF who end up with an odd C or two over some ridiculous reason, and they don’t make NMF. <= That predicament would be highly unlikely amongst a homeschooled NMSF.
@mom2collegekids True enough. I guess it shows home schoolers are less ridiculous. 
^^^
lol…what I meant is…there have been NMSFs who ended up with a C in some class because they were ill for a period of time and their teacher was unyielding (ridiculous) about rescheduling an exam or project due date. I doubt a home schooling student would face that situation. “Mom” knows that her student has been hospitalized or very ill and was unable to complete a project by an originally-set due date, and therefore an extension is given.
@mom2collegekids Oh, ok. I was thinking that you were implying that home schoolers would just not give Cs just “because” thus having an unethical advantage, so that’s why I got defensive. But yeah, I see what you’re getting at now. That is very true what you say about the tough situations like that - a couple years back everything went nuts because my grandmother got very sick (turned out it was cancer and she passed away within a couple months) and my mom and I made several extended trips to CA because of that in the middle of my sophomore spring semester. Obviously I got behind in my schoolwork, but since my mom clearly knew the reason, I wasn’t really penalized, I just had to catch it all up when things came back into focus. Which was hard, but you get the idea.
These days homeschooling is more than mom teaching…i.e. students are taking online classes with real exam dates and project due dates. Could C’s in an AP class be a situation that a homeschooler would face—sure.