Only about one thousand students become National Merit Scholars to qualify for National Merit Foundation's scholarship on their personal merit. They can pick any college but still be scholar and get their scholarship.

Most become scholars because they pick colleges or have parent's employer sponsoring scholarships. If they pick non participating elite college, they don't become scholar and stay finalist unless parent's employer is a sponsor.

Anonymous wrote:My DC's school in NOVA has 4 PSAT semi-finalists. My DC got a decent score but not one that would put him with the 4. Would this impact his chances with UVA? His school does not give out rankings but he has taken 12 AP's, 4.3 GPA, and 1540 SAT with decent EC but no national awards. Naviance puts him right at the GPA needed for UVA but does not break it down by school/major. DC is either thinking about CS or Economics.

It does at some colleges and they give scholarships but not at elite colleges.

Anonymous wrote:My child is a national merit Scholar (2021 grad). 36 ACT, did not get into top choice schools. Currently at their safety with lots of merit money and is vry happy. I thought the results were a golden ticket, but I was wrong.

why? don't you think it helped him get a lot of merit money?

It's a national level award that can certainly be included on your application, but not a significant boost to admission prospects at UVA. However there are some schools that provide merit scholarships with the designation.

My child is a national merit Scholar (2021 grad). 36 ACT, did not get into top choice schools. Currently at their safety with lots of merit money and is vry happy. I thought the results were a golden ticket, but I was wrong.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it does help to be a Semifinalist, but these students also tend to have too grades and ECs. Most semifinalists become finalists—and that designation doesn’t happen until the spring, so it really doesn’t affect college admissions (just funding).

Most SF become finalists but most finalists do not become NM scholars. It’s a long process. Likely those 4 might include it under awards, but they might also have other awards that they would prefer to highlight over their high PSAT score. There is another designation below SF called Commended Scholar. Some might include that on the college app but I doubt it would provide a boost. SF/F/Scholar status might give a boost or money, depending on the school.

I doubt it too but when in doubt, include.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it does help to be a Semifinalist, but these students also tend to have too grades and ECs. Most semifinalists become finalists—and that designation doesn’t happen until the spring, so it really doesn’t affect college admissions (just funding).

Most SF become finalists but most finalists do not become NM scholars. It’s a long process. Likely those 4 might include it under awards, but they might also have other awards that they would prefer to highlight over their high PSAT score. There is another designation below SF called Commended Scholar. Some might include that on the college app but I doubt it would provide a boost. SF/F/Scholar status might give a boost or money, depending on the school.

Yes, it does help to be a Semifinalist, but these students also tend to have too grades and ECs. Most semifinalists become finalists—and that designation doesn’t happen until the spring, so it really doesn’t affect college admissions (just funding).

NMSF designation does provide a boost to college app.

I’m confused what the question is.
If your son scored well but didn’t receive a designation, it means essentially nothing. Colleges won’t see the PSAT score. Likely there is a correlation between that and he will score well on SAT/ACT which will impact college admissions.
For those four who did get the designation, most semi-finalists become finalists and that will definitely look good on their applications.

I am confused. How can you know that in August?

Nope, semi finalist doesn’t count.

Four "PSAT" semifinalists? Do you mean National Merit? How do you know the number? Schools aren't notified until September.

No.

My DC's school in NOVA has 4 PSAT semi-finalists. My DC got a decent score but not one that would put him with the 4. Would this impact his chances with UVA? His school does not give out rankings but he has taken 12 AP's, 4.3 GPA, and 1540 SAT with decent EC but no national awards. Naviance puts him right at the GPA needed for UVA but does not break it down by school/major. DC is either thinking about CS or Economics.