National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this just irritates me. my kid would qualify if in Florida, but we're in California

Yep, can't understand why it's not determined nationwide.

Seriously? You want to see 99% of NMSF from a few states from east and CA? I understand your frustration but I think the current way is the right way.

I kind of disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this just irritates me. my kid would qualify if in Florida, but we're in California

Yep, can't understand why it's not determined nationwide.

Seriously? You want to see 99% of NMSF from a few states from east and CA? I understand your frustration but I think the current way is the right way.

I kind of disagree.

Do tell us why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this just irritates me. my kid would qualify if in Florida, but we're in California

Yep, can't understand why it's not determined nationwide.

Seriously? You want to see 99% of NMSF from a few states from east and CA? I understand your frustration but I think the current way is the right way.

I kind of disagree.

Do tell us why.

DP here. They won't, and it is because they have not thought it through. They just assume that their kid who would qualify in a low state will also qualify in theirs, when the truth is it then the cutoff would be 1 pt below the highest states and the vast majority would be from those states, and almost nobody from the lower scoring states.

[Anonymous]

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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.

Hey Mr. "Maths" (not from around here?) PSAT is top 1% and perfect SAT is .07%. So are you sure I am the one failing at "maths"? You are far too invested in NMF - can't wait to hear how your snowflake and their permanent honor fares! Be sure to post back with the red carpets that were rolled out based on their PSAT scores!

[Anonymous]

Knock it off, both of yous. Both seem offensive.

Can we just move on?

[Anonymous]

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?

Some college reps who visit high schools will tell the counselor they only want to meet with the NMSF students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MD confirmed as 222
So far highest state cut off. What does that mean for DC?

It means DC cutoff is at least 222, but could be higher if another state comes in higher. The only state that has a chance of coming in higher than 222 based on historical data is NJ. MA is the other high-scoring state, and it has been confirmed at 222.

True, in most years NJ and MA have the highest cut score, so that is the score for DC and US students abroad. (MD was an aberration last year due to the change in qualifying guidelines).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Some college reps who visit high schools will tell the counselor they only want to meet with the NMSF students.

Besides schools like U of Alabama?

[Anonymous]

Stop the non-sense arguments here! National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist is useless for top 20 college admissions. If a college is test optional, why does it care about a one-time PSAT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MD confirmed as 222
So far highest state cut off. What does that mean for DC?

It means DC cutoff is at least 222, but could be higher if another state comes in higher. The only state that has a chance of coming in higher than 222 based on historical data is NJ. MA is the other high-scoring state, and it has been confirmed at 222.

True, in most years NJ and MA have the highest cut score, so that is the score for DC and US students abroad. (MD was an aberration last year due to the change in qualifying guidelines).

When you said in most years, how far back are you talking about ? 5 years? Otherwise, MD is usually among the highest cut score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MD confirmed as 222
So far highest state cut off. What does that mean for DC?

It means DC cutoff is at least 222, but could be higher if another state comes in higher. The only state that has a chance of coming in higher than 222 based on historical data is NJ. MA is the other high-scoring state, and it has been confirmed at 222.

True, in most years NJ and MA have the highest cut score, so that is the score for DC and US students abroad. (MD was an aberration last year due to the change in qualifying guidelines).

When you said in most years, how far back are you talking about ? 5 years? Otherwise, MD is usually among the highest cut score.

The trend goes back far longer than 5 years. MD cutoff is usually ~1 pt below MA/NJ scores. Very close to the top but not at the top.

- np

[Anonymous]

I’m super interested as soon has 221 in va. We are def looking at university of Alabama full ride package if he makes the cut. Still no word?

[Anonymous]

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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.

HUH? PSATs are taken in junior year. He is applying to college Fall of Jr year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MD confirmed as 222
So far highest state cut off. What does that mean for DC?

DC is lumped with VA. It is what MD is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MD confirmed as 222
So far highest state cut off. What does that mean for DC?

DC is lumped with VA. It is what MD is.

I meant lumped with MD!! This is per our counselor.