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Commended Student - Which Schools?

emtrippedagainemtrippedagain 97 replies27 threads Junior Member
edited April 2012 in National Merit Scholarships
I received a letter from NMS informing me that I'd qualified for the first round of NMS with my PSAT score. I highly doubt I'll make it to Semifinalist or Finalist, seeing as I only scored a 203 in the state of California. I'm not sure how to pick the schools I should send to (guidance counselors haven't seen NMS happen before/don't know what on earth they're doing). Should I send to my top two, reaches, or safeties?

My schools are: Boston University, Pomona College, University of Cincinatti, Southern Oregon University, University of Oregon, University of Washington, and American University. (Potentially UC Berkeley or UC San Diego).
edited April 2012
3 replies
Post edited by emtrippedagain on
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Replies to: Commended Student - Which Schools?

  • crazymomstercrazymomster 1677 replies195 threads Senior Member
    Send the information to any 2 schools you want to receive more correspondence from as that is basically the entire "benefit" of naming any schools now. No, your 203 will not qualify you beyond commended, but that is a great job in itself :-)
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  • emtrippedagainemtrippedagain 97 replies27 threads Junior Member
    Thank you for the information! I went into the PSAT without studying and scored a 203 my first time, so I wasn't too unhappy. I'm attempting to navigate the college admissions process without parental help, so I wasn't even aware of NMS. Now I'm wishing I had studied!
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  • chucktaylor1chucktaylor1 191 replies6 threads Junior Member
    I had the opportunity to attend a presentation on the college admissions process last week. The speaker, a former college admissions administrator, said that one of the factors of admission used by colleges is an "indication of interest", which he defined as campus visits, correspondence with the Admissions Office, etc. If there is any truth that the naming of two schools earns points for "indication of interest" within the named colleges, then you should name your #1 and #2 school choices. I have no idea if there is any meaningful benefit or not with this strategy, but we chose to send to the top two choices anyway under the assumption that doing it couldn't hurt our chances.
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