<p>thanks for all the info. - It has relaxed me a little to hear from all of you! I am a semi-finalist in California and have not heard a thing either in the mail or from my high school. I called National Merit today just to be sure I was still in the loop, and they said that I could call, tomorrow, Friday, and that they would in fact release information over the phone at that point if I had not yet gotten notification! Good Luck to those who are still in the dark like me!</p>
<p>Just to close out my story, we got the mail notification in yesterday’s mail. The letter was dated the 10th, as expected from the pdf file on the NMSC web site. Thanks to everyone and especially those who took the time to tell us nervous Nellies about the January notifications of those who didn’t make the Finalist cut. </p>
<p>I didn’t realize it took so long for the ponies to get to California. Must be snow in the pass over the Sierras. Today will be the day, I hope.</p>
<p>Official notification arrived by mail today in Ohio. Also received a lovely letter from the principal to parents, informing us that the certificates will be presented to the students at the next school board meeting. That’s nice.</p>
<p>Snail mail arrived yesterday to our house in TN that D is a finalist. Her college counselor did let her know last week that she was a finalist and the only one at her school. 3 others were commended but she was the only semifinalist.</p>
<p>Would you all post your state, your score, and whether you did or didn’t advance? That might help us to determine how the cutoffs may have changed for each state.</p>
<p>The qualifying scores for last year’s National Merit Semifinalists were:
Alabama 209
Alaska 212
Arizona 209
Arkansas 204
California 217
Colorado 213
Connecticut 218
Delaware 219
District of Columbia 221
Florida 211
Georgia 215
Hawaii 216
Idaho 208
Illinois 214
Indiana 213
Iowa 210
Kansas 211
Kentucky 209
Louisiana 208
Maine 212
Maryland 220
Massachusetts 221
Michigan 209
Minnesota 214
Mississippi 201
Missouri 213
Montana 208
Nebraska 206
Nevada 206
New Hampshire 211
New Jersey 220
New Mexico 209
New York 216
North Carolina 215
North Dakota 201
Ohio 213
Oklahoma 208
Oregon 213
Pennsylvania 213
Rhode Island 213
South Carolina 212
South Dakota 205
Tennessee 213
Texas 215
Utah 203
Vermont 213
Virginia 219
Washington 217
West Virginia 203
Wisconsin 210
Wyoming 201
International 221
U.S. Territories 201</p>
<p>Finalist! Very happy. Uni offers 50% tuition grant for finalists, which will be enormously helpful in this economic climate. I realize that most semi’s become finalists, but I was still holding my breath.</p>
<p>i live in the middle of nowhere in pa, so im guessing mail has reached pretty much everyone around here, but i just got my mail 20 minutes ago</p>
<p>so im freaking excited /c there was always that question b/c my school hasnt said a thing (though we just got a new principal) and i had these horrible thoughts that maybe the notification didn’t make it to me b/c of where i live. that might sound crazy, but we don’t get our newspaper at least once a week, so the mail ppl are unreliable-it was a legit worry</p>
<p>My son received his Certificate of Merit for being a finalist but no letter. He is homeschooled so the things could be sent separately. But I was wondering what is in the letter and if I really need it and if I should contact NM we do not receive one.</p>
<p>faverr,</p>
<p>the only important things in the letter are your first choice school that you reported, and the dates by which you have to notify NMF if your first choice changes. If you are not sure where your student will be going, it is safer to change now to “undecided”, and notify them of “first choice” as soon as you know for sure.</p>
<p>Recieved letter at residence today. Rural Georgia address.</p>
<p>D got her letter today at home in California via snail mail.</p>
<p>Finally! Got the certificate today at school (in Texas) and the letter at home. It’s a relief. </p>
<p>Now, of course, I have another question for anyone who may give me good advice: it’s about the 1st choice thing, again. My first choice is USC, but I haven’t gotten in (yet??). My second choice is Loyola Marymount, which I’ve been accepted to already. However, seeing as there’s entirely a chance I may not get into USC, I’m not sure if I should put it as my first choice. Right now, I’m officially “undecided”, but that March 1st date for the first college scholarships worries me. I know we really have until April or May, after all decision letters are out, but still. Would putting USC as my official first choice be the thing to do, also letting them know that I want to go there? Or should I just wait for a letter from them, which may be sometime in March?</p>
<p>I called NMSC last fall to get the cutoff for our state,TN and it was still 213-no change from the year before. D made 224. I noticed in the finalist letter that was sent that eligibility for scholarship from them is determined on a state by state basis, just like the rest of the process for semifinalist selection. I hope that bodes well for my D since she is 11 points higher than our state cutoff. Time will tell.</p>
<p>It seems like it is easier to move from “semi-finalist to finalist” than it is to move from “finalist to recipient”. Am I understanding the NMCS website correctly…only 8200 of the 15000 finalists actually get an award? What do the others get…???</p>
<p>I received my letter this weekend yay! Congrats to everyone!</p>
<p>3boyz; </p>
<p>Any finalist can get a national merit scholarship, many of which are full free rides, by selecting and attending a college that offers such.
Many finalists attend HPYS etc. where merit money is not available.
It is moderately hard to get a direct National Merit grant and somewhat hard to get a corporate NM grant, both of which are good at any school.</p>
<p>From mcmom’s earlier post;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html</a></p>
<p>If Bill Gates kid(s) were NMF’s (likely since Mr. and Ms. Gates are smart people) they could go to Bama(Roll Tide!) on a full free ride.</p>
<p>Has anybody from Texas, particularly the Dallas area not gotten their letter?
Several people from my school have already been notified, but I’m not sure if everyone has. The two people that I’ve spoken to received their letters three days ago.</p>
<p>Hi, Any home school folks out there who haven’t heard yet? Since we school at home, we have the same address for the principal and the student. I read where one family got their certificate yesterday without a letter. We live in NJ and haven’t gotten anything yet… either certificate, letter, or anything. Sometimes the mail gets delivered to the wrong address here. We didn’t get a letter in January, so hopefully it’s still fine.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if there is any value in alerting schools you’ve applied to about your NMF status? Does NMSC notify schools, or do schools have access to that information? None of the schools we are looking at are on the “free-ride” list.</p>
<p>3boyz,</p>
<p>I don’t think it would hurt to notify the schools, but it probably will not help either (other then in “showing interest” way). Most semifinalists become finalists, and the whole thing is based on test scores. The schools have that info already…</p>