Why is being a National Merit Finalist a big deal?

[Anonymous]

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There's a strange misconception on this thread that you can become a NMF with a great PSAT score and SAT doesn't matter. That's incorrect. You can become a "Commended" student or Semifinalist based on the PSAT, but you need to score equally well on the SAT to advance to a Finalist or Scholar.

This is not true. You need to have a confirming score that matches or exceeds the Commended (National-level) score of 212. So, in DC (223 index), you could get a 1500 PSAT and still move to Finalist with a 1360 SAT (760RW + 600M, 76+76+60=212). Note that the SAT components are capped at the 760 PSAT level. I'm not sure if the confirming score is relevant to becoming a Scholar; I don't think it officially is, but may matter to some of the sponsors (NM, Corp, College).

Also, in the DMV, a qualifying PSAT is much higher than 1% of the 1.6M national PSAT test takers, and way, way higher than 1% of the 4+M high school seniors (0.2%?).

You are confirming what I wrote while saying you're contradicting it. I said the SAT does matter and it is not based on PSAT alone, and you went on a rant that "that is not true" while ... laying out the required SAT scores.

"but you need to score equally well on the SAT"

THIS IS NOT TRUE. Does that help?

Your SAT scores have to confirm the PSAT scores. SAT scores matter. You cannot become a NMF based on PSAT alone. This is the point, as I said explicitly. Of course the scores don't have to be identical because it's a standard cutoff so some people will score higher or lower than their performance on the PSAT while still exceeding the cutoff for their state.

But the SAT scores, like the PSAT scores, must be higher than the cutoff set by the NMST. You have to beat the cutoff both times. You are correct (while being pedantic to the point of inanity) that the PSAT and SAT scores do not have to be identical for each applicant. But each person who advances to Finalist must have been above the cutoff for both tests, not just the PSAT.

Good luck on your kid's prep.

Actually, SAT scores do not matter (if you take the ACT as a confirming score). Everyone that spends 5 seconds learning about the NM program knows that a confirming score is required. What is less well known (as you would see from reviewing comments on College Confidential or the Compass Prep blog) is HOW the confirming score is calculated and used. There is no state-level cutoff for the SAT, which in the DMV is very relevant. I believe that my inane pedantic rant added value to the discussion, whereas yours did not.

As a practical matter, a DC resident who scores the required 1490+ on the PSAT is very unlikely to not generate a confirming score of 212 on a subsequent ACT/SAT given the natural predicted score increase of 50-60 points.

PSAT is today, so a little too late for prep

And yet, the person I was responding to, the comment you cut off from this entire exchange, did not know that. Which is why I responded to that person. And yet here you are saying "nobody needs that information" after erasing the fact that it was explicitly sought out. But hey, at least you got to unload all of your blog knowledge. Value add!

DP. You gave misinformation by saying they need to do "equally well" on the SAT. There is a big difference between having to score equally well and having to meet some benchmark that's significantly lower. Why didn't you just say you didn't realize confirming score didn't mean equally good? That way each of you have useful information. You don't have to be perfectly right all the time in order to be useful. People can add to/correct/clarify so the person seeking help can get full information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For my parent, it was life changing. Child of a fireman. Was able to attend Cornell engineering full ride (after turning down MIT). No shortage of summer employment opportunities. No sure about today.

That's fantastic. Today, like the rest of the Ivies, Cornell does not offer merit scholarships. However, Cornell does offer generous financial aid that supposedly meets full financial need (as they define it, etc.), and one need not be a National Merit winner to be admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For my parent, it was life changing. Child of a fireman. Was able to attend Cornell engineering full ride (after turning down MIT). No shortage of summer employment opportunities. No sure about today.

I didn't think top colleges gave scholarships for National Merit finalists. And what the heck would it have to do with your getting summer jobs?

[Anonymous]

Because it was a significant academic award, often given by corporations. Thus it facilitated summer employment for some. Now it is deemphasized, largely because the makeup of winners was overwhelmingly white.

[Anonymous]

I was NMSF back in the day. It was nice— I got a scholarship that covered my dorm then. Unfortunately, most amounts of scholarships have not kept up with increased costs in the last 20 years.

My DC missed it by 1 point in VA. I don’t like it that the cut offs are state by state and 222 in one state and 216 in another. In something like 43 states, my kid would be NMSF. But we knew the deal going in and no one promised I would think it is fair. The Commended honor is nice.

I think it’s nice because outside of TJ, only a handful of kids per school get it, if that. So it’s public kudos for academics. And most of the kids who are named NMSF have been busting their humps for years.

Here’s a list of schools that give more than small awards to NMSF:

https://www.college-kickstart.com/blog/item/colleges-with-great-scholarships-for-national-merit-finalists

It’s true NMSF is a way for true MC kids pay for college. Not sure how much it helps in much of the DMV. The schools many DMV NMSF kids target have plenty of NMSF applicants and it doesn’t seem to be a critical factor in admissions. Ivys and T20 can take NMSF or leave it. VCU will give you a full ride. Problem is most DMV NMSFs are aiming Ivy/ UVA/WM, not VCU.

Texas A&M, BU and some of the other colleges on this list are good schools though.