National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if you meet the cutoff (eg 223 for Maryland) then you are a Natl Merit Semifinalist. Then you and your school submit a package with SAT score and grades and an endorsement from the principal, and baded on that the Finalists are selected? Am I undersranding this correctly?

If so... unless you are a Finalist and end up getting a scholarship from a school you're interested in, what do you do with this honor? Add it under 'awards' on the common app? The colleges already know your grades and SAT score so what's the point?

Well, there are tangible benefits and intangible benefits. Together, those benefits make kid's application stronger; tremendiously helpful for lower tier schools than top tier schools but nevertheless there are schools that try very agressively attract NMF/NMS kids - offering, in some case, full ride scholarships. Even without it though, it's an honor that will stay with you for a lifetime. Having said that, most kids who are high performing enough to in the game don't do it for tangible stuff, it's the honor they want, IMHO.

not knocking on nmsf, hope my kid gets it, but seriously to the bolded? No, after HS, no one cares.

Depends on what you mean by "cares." You won the same award as the people below. I think it's an honor.

National Merit and National Achievement Scholars
The following is a list of notable National Merit Scholarship Program honorees, many of whom are listed on the "Scholars You May Know" page on the National Merit Scholarship Corporation website.[15]

John C. Malone (1959)
Elvin Bishop (1960)
Joseph Stiglitz (1960)
Randy Hendricks (1963)
Amory Lovins (1964)
Robert Reich (1964)
Thomas Cech (1966)
Alexa Canady (1967)
Mitch Daniels (1967)
Michael Walsh (1967)
Roger Tsien (1968)
Jerry Greenfield (1969)
Paul Krugman (1970)
Ben Bernanke (1971)
Evelynn M. Hammonds (1971)
Jeffrey Sachs (1972)
Bill Gates (1973)
Jim Cramer (1973)
John Roberts (1973)
Mae Jemison (1973)
Steve Ballmer (1973)
Elena Kagan (1977)
Lisa P. Jackson (1979)
B. Alvin Drew (1980)
Lisa Randall (1980)
Jeff Bezos (1982)
Andrew Gelman (1982)
Susan Rice (1982)
Spencer Wells (1984)
Peter Thiel (1985)
Chubb Rock (1985)[16]
Jeri Ryan (1986)[17]
Lauren Lake (1986)[18]
Linda Rottenberg (1986)
Elliott Smith (1987)[19]
Ted Cruz (1988)[20]
M. Night Shyamalan (1988)
Howard Steven Friedman (1989)[21]
Michael McCullers (1989)
Josh Singer (1990)[22]
Asia Carrera (1991)
Melissa Harris-Perry (1991)
Brooke Magnanti (1992)
Stephenie Meyer (1992)
Felicia Day (1995)
Slater Rhea (2005)[23]

Chubb Rock and Ted Cruz...nice!!

Not impressive because some of them come from very low cutoff states. There are many others who would have been semi-finalists if they went to school in a different state. What's more impressive is scoring 1600 on the SAT.

Kiddo didn't make the cut huh?

NMF is not impressive anymore. The highlight of your glory will be getting named at your high school unless you take advantage of a school that gives a lot of money for it - usually schools not at the top of the list for the highest achievers. But the idea that this honor lasts a lifetime is so silly. A 1600 on the SAT, much harder than NMF is not even noteworthy anymore. I saw 1600 SAT or 36 ACT kids getting WL or rejected left and right from schools you would expect that it would be an auto-admit. Means almost nothing these days thanks to the lib takeover of higher education.

Lol aside from being crazy, you fail at maths too. It's the same top percentile (about 1% or less) , and the same honor it ever was. There aren't more now just because the scores are higher.

And many of you are confusing "honor" with "praise". The honor indeed is permanent.

I'll skip the "libs libs libs!" straitjacket meme because you've all seen it. Fits here tho.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son scored a 1560 on the SAT at age 14. I didn't realize he could submit that and he missed national merit by a point based on his 11th grade PSAT. Don't be him. Know the loopholes.

Also agree, this is just stupid that the qualifying score varies by state. Totally unfair for an exam that is supposed to "level the playing field" and provide an :objective assessment".

I cannot deal with the stupidity of college admissions anymore!

You couldn't have used an SAT score unless your child was unable to take the PSAT. By "loophole" do you mean lying? I hope not. Mine had to submit alternate because there were no tests available in MoCo due to covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD got 226 in MD and haven’t heard anything

Don't worry! You're good. Those who know are probably homeschooled or somehow in with the principal. Only principals are informed initially. Last year they made an announcement around mid Sept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if you meet the cutoff (eg 223 for Maryland) then you are a Natl Merit Semifinalist. Then you and your school submit a package with SAT score and grades and an endorsement from the principal, and baded on that the Finalists are selected? Am I undersranding this correctly?

If so... unless you are a Finalist and end up getting a scholarship from a school you're interested in, what do you do with this honor? Add it under 'awards' on the common app? The colleges already know your grades and SAT score so what's the point?

Well, there are tangible benefits and intangible benefits. Together, those benefits make kid's application stronger; tremendiously helpful for lower tier schools than top tier schools but nevertheless there are schools that try very agressively attract NMF/NMS kids - offering, in some case, full ride scholarships. Even without it though, it's an honor that will stay with you for a lifetime. Having said that, most kids who are high performing enough to in the game don't do it for tangible stuff, it's the honor they want, IMHO.

not knocking on nmsf, hope my kid gets it, but seriously to the bolded? No, after HS, no one cares.

Depends on what you mean by "cares." You won the same award as the people below. I think it's an honor.

National Merit and National Achievement Scholars
The following is a list of notable National Merit Scholarship Program honorees, many of whom are listed on the "Scholars You May Know" page on the National Merit Scholarship Corporation website.[15]

John C. Malone (1959)
Elvin Bishop (1960)
Joseph Stiglitz (1960)
Randy Hendricks (1963)
Amory Lovins (1964)
Robert Reich (1964)
Thomas Cech (1966)
Alexa Canady (1967)
Mitch Daniels (1967)
Michael Walsh (1967)
Roger Tsien (1968)
Jerry Greenfield (1969)
Paul Krugman (1970)
Ben Bernanke (1971)
Evelynn M. Hammonds (1971)
Jeffrey Sachs (1972)
Bill Gates (1973)
Jim Cramer (1973)
John Roberts (1973)
Mae Jemison (1973)
Steve Ballmer (1973)
Elena Kagan (1977)
Lisa P. Jackson (1979)
B. Alvin Drew (1980)
Lisa Randall (1980)
Jeff Bezos (1982)
Andrew Gelman (1982)
Susan Rice (1982)
Spencer Wells (1984)
Peter Thiel (1985)
Chubb Rock (1985)[16]
Jeri Ryan (1986)[17]
Lauren Lake (1986)[18]
Linda Rottenberg (1986)
Elliott Smith (1987)[19]
Ted Cruz (1988)[20]
M. Night Shyamalan (1988)
Howard Steven Friedman (1989)[21]
Michael McCullers (1989)
Josh Singer (1990)[22]
Asia Carrera (1991)
Melissa Harris-Perry (1991)
Brooke Magnanti (1992)
Stephenie Meyer (1992)
Felicia Day (1995)
Slater Rhea (2005)[23]

Chubb Rock and Ted Cruz...nice!!

Not impressive because some of them come from very low cutoff states. There are many others who would have been semi-finalists if they went to school in a different state. What's more impressive is scoring 1600 on the SAT.

Kiddo didn't make the cut huh?

NMF is not impressive anymore. The highlight of your glory will be getting named at your high school unless you take advantage of a school that gives a lot of money for it - usually schools not at the top of the list for the highest achievers. But the idea that this honor lasts a lifetime is so silly. A 1600 on the SAT, much harder than NMF is not even noteworthy anymore. I saw 1600 SAT or 36 ACT kids getting WL or rejected left and right from schools you would expect that it would be an auto-admit. Means almost nothing these days thanks to the lib takeover of higher education.

what are you blabbering about? so your kid (allegedly) scored 1600 but missed NMSF, is that what you are so bitter about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD got 226 in MD and haven’t heard anything

Don't worry! You're good. Those who know are probably homeschooled or somehow in with the principal. Only principals are informed initially. Last year they made an announcement around mid Sept.

You are wrong on both counts. Students at my school were simply informed by their guidance counselor last week. Done this way every year.
Obviously a 226 would count as the MD cutoff is 222, but skeptical of the 226 score

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD got 226 in MD and haven’t heard anything

Don't worry! You're good. Those who know are probably homeschooled or somehow in with the principal. Only principals are informed initially. Last year they made an announcement around mid Sept.

You are wrong on both counts. Students at my school were simply informed by their guidance counselor last week. Done this way every year.
Obviously a 226 would count as the MD cutoff is 222, but skeptical of the 226 score

New poster here. Mine is another MD kid with a 226 who hasn't been officially informed yet. Why would you doubt that such people exist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD got 226 in MD and haven’t heard anything

Don't worry! You're good. Those who know are probably homeschooled or somehow in with the principal. Only principals are informed initially. Last year they made an announcement around mid Sept.

You are wrong on both counts. Students at my school were simply informed by their guidance counselor last week. Done this way every year.
Obviously a 226 would count as the MD cutoff is 222, but skeptical of the 226 score

New poster here. Mine is another MD kid with a 226 who hasn't been officially informed yet. Why would you doubt that such people exist?

Exactly, someone in DC school got 228 the full score, never heard of the high scores? Are you from this area?

[Anonymous]

Every school hands announcement differently. College Confidential is probably much better source of cutoff scores than here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every school hands announcement differently. College Confidential is probably much better source of cutoff scores than here.

Very little info on College Confidential. Best info is on Compass, but they have nothing about DC or VA. Since this is a DMV site, seems like a great place to get info. Hope those who have heard from counselors will share soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD got 226 in MD and haven’t heard anything

Don't worry! You're good. Those who know are probably homeschooled or somehow in with the principal. Only principals are informed initially. Last year they made an announcement around mid Sept.

You are wrong on both counts. Students at my school were simply informed by their guidance counselor last week. Done this way every year.
Obviously a 226 would count as the MD cutoff is 222, but skeptical of the 226 score

DS has a 227 in MD and still hasn't heard anything. I want him to submit some rolling admissions applications and he wants to wait for official notification - it's silly. What's the point of making scores up? It's frustrating every year, PSAT scores take longer then SAT/ACT scores, then an 9 month wait for official semi-finalist announcement (with a slow trickle state by state) and then another long wait for NMF when 15K out of 16K make it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD got 226 in MD and haven’t heard anything

Don't worry! You're good. Those who know are probably homeschooled or somehow in with the principal. Only principals are informed initially. Last year they made an announcement around mid Sept.

You are wrong on both counts. Students at my school were simply informed by their guidance counselor last week. Done this way every year.
Obviously a 226 would count as the MD cutoff is 222, but skeptical of the 226 score

I am the PP. Mine had a 228 in a previous year. Different schools may do it differently, but our MCPS school (not sure if it was county or school, but I know a lot were in the same boat) waited until close to the announcement date I think. My kid also contacted her guidance counselor to confirm early (knew her well).

Why the need for the heavy "wrong" assessment? I am absolutely correct about principals being informed before students because they disseminate the info. NMSC sends lists to principals. How do I know? I asked them when my kid went through this. Schools decide when and how to share w/ students. Was also on the CC boards about this. Kids who are homeschooled always found out first b/c their parents were the "principal," so that is also correct. These things aren't this or that, there's a lot of variety. Do you really have such esteem issues that you need to be punitive?

BTW, if anyone has questions, NMSC office is very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD got 226 in MD and haven’t heard anything

Don't worry! You're good. Those who know are probably homeschooled or somehow in with the principal. Only principals are informed initially. Last year they made an announcement around mid Sept.

You are wrong on both counts. Students at my school were simply informed by their guidance counselor last week. Done this way every year.
Obviously a 226 would count as the MD cutoff is 222, but skeptical of the 226 score

DS has a 227 in MD and still hasn't heard anything. I want him to submit some rolling admissions applications and he wants to wait for official notification - it's silly. What's the point of making scores up? It's frustrating every year, PSAT scores take longer then SAT/ACT scores, then an 9 month wait for official semi-finalist announcement (with a slow trickle state by state) and then another long wait for NMF when 15K out of 16K make it.

If he submits now, he can send an update to his application with the designation. Updates might be a good way to signal that he is keen/committed and keep him on AO's radar.

Or, he can ask his guidance counselor or principal if they would confirm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI, my child was a National Merit Scholar a few years back in Montgomery County (we are a white, true MC family). It's not everything you think it is. My child had no interest in the schools that offered full scholarship to them. Also rejected by most Ivys (waitlisted at one then rejected, outright rejected at the rest), rejected at targets like Duke, Wash U, U of MI, UNC, etc.

It. Doesn't. Matter. They are happy with how things turned out, happy at their 2md tier school (was a safety) etc.

This- except we are Howard not Montgomery county. my first was a NMF- rejected from Northwestern and Georgetown. (He did not want or apply to Ivies or any of the full ride schools). He is at UMD honors with the presidential(not Banneker Key)scholarship. The NMF got him an extra 8K in merit from UMD. He loves Maryland and will graduate with not debt, six figures left in his 529 and we bought him a brand new car.

My second never took the PSATs (class of 2022) and he ended up submitting his SAT scores and was a commended student. It didn’t matter.

[Anonymous]

Compass is reporting DC, NJ and abroad, meaning ANY kid with 223 or above is NMSF.

https://www.compassprep.com/national-merit-semifinalist-cutoffs/#:~:text=The%20Commended%20cutoff%20is%20set,range%20from%20207%20to%20222.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI, my child was a National Merit Scholar a few years back in Montgomery County (we are a white, true MC family). It's not everything you think it is. My child had no interest in the schools that offered full scholarship to them. Also rejected by most Ivys (waitlisted at one then rejected, outright rejected at the rest), rejected at targets like Duke, Wash U, U of MI, UNC, etc.

It. Doesn't. Matter. They are happy with how things turned out, happy at their 2md tier school (was a safety) etc.

This- except we are Howard not Montgomery county. my first was a NMF- rejected from Northwestern and Georgetown. (He did not want or apply to Ivies or any of the full ride schools). He is at UMD honors with the presidential(not Banneker Key)scholarship. The NMF got him an extra 8K in merit from UMD. He loves Maryland and will graduate with not debt, six figures left in his 529 and we bought him a brand new car.

My second never took the PSATs (class of 2022) and he ended up submitting his SAT scores and was a commended student. It didn’t matter.

Because what happened to your kid?