<p>I wish I had the type of kid willing to prepare…</p>
<p>GAD, you should let the GC know that in the past these letters went to students’ homes and this is the first year that only the school gets the letter. And that students who may be in contention for NMSF need to know this so that they can plan to take the SAT before the NMSC deadline in December. That many kids only take the ACT, but NMSFs need to take the SAT too. That you know of people (we certainly do, reading threads here on CC) who found out quite late in the process that they did not get named NMSF because they incorrectly bubbled in some questions about grade/citizenship and had to scramble to get things together in time. </p>
<p>Since only the school gets the letter now, it behooves them to notify students of their status and make sure they take SAT if their score is in NMSF range. Any schools that did not have notification of commended students as standard procedure in the past should institute that now. </p>
<p>Also, it is not neurotic to worry that one’s kid made such bubbling errors and GC should not blow you off like that. They get used to dealing with all sorts of obsessed parents bothering them with what they consider to be trivialities. This is not a trivial thing. Tell him/her it could potentially mean $120,000 difference in the price of college to your family and you want to get it right. I know your kid is on the bubble, but I’m hopeful for you in KS.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure students didn’t get letters last year either. In contacting your GC, maybe just appear clueless. The GC would probably enjoy feeling superior, LOL! The NMS website said the letters were going to the principal, so that’s who I emailed. I just quoted the NMS statement about principals being notified (below) and asked him to please confirm my son was on the list, so there were no surprises come fall.</p>
<p>“In April of 2014, NMSC will ask high school principals to identify any errors or changes in the reported eligibility of their high scorers (students whose scores qualify them for recognition).”</p>
<p>Oh, sorry. My daughter got the letter, but that was 2012.</p>
<p>The letter went out to the Principal on or around April 8. The GC will not be in a position to know unless it gets forwarded to her. I asked the GC to check with the Principal to make sure that my daughter is on the list, as my employer sponsors a couple of NMS. She came back with an affirmative answer last week.</p>
<p>For those worried about checking the wrong boxes in the survey at the time of exam, if there is no asterisk on the PSAT Index, you are in the contention for a NMS.</p>
<p>Is there any way to tell by looking at the scores online? My daughter doesn’t know where she put the printed copy mailed to her.</p>
<p>Do you seriously mean your kids don’t know their PSAT score by now? I guess it is possible? normally I’d say those who don’t know by now probably shouldn’t even bother. I’m sorry I speak my mind. I’m just reading these and go duh</p>
<p>Of course they know their score. That is not what is being discussed here. The question is whether they are officially placed in the commended pool. That depends on score AND having not misbubbled some bothersome boxes on the test having to do with citizenship status and grade level. Also, until 2 weeks ago no one knew what the commended cut score even was. It is not announced by NMSC. The way people find out is by figuring out what is the lowest score of kids in the commended pool, or apparently it’s mentioned in the letter to principal. You have to read farther back in the thread to follow what is going on now.</p>
<p>@nomatterwhat. The kids do know their scores…what they don’t know is if their names were placed correctly on the commended list. We need to confirm in order to narrow down some college lists due to national merit considerations. Really no need for the rude remark. </p>
<p>You can also just call NMSC and ask them to check a student’s eligibility. If there are any paperwork issues regarding eligibility (bubbling, incorrect projected grad dates, etc.) they’ll fix those for you as well.</p>
<p>(847) 866-5100</p>
<p>Sorry, to be a pain…we know my daughter’s score and she should be on the commended list. Besides calling my principal, is there any way to know by looking at the college board account online? is there this index there where an asterix would be- or hopefully not be?</p>
<p>Wolveriiiine, nobody wants to use the phone and talk to a real live person. That is why we spend weeks here on CC pondering these things, to avoid the dreaded phone call.</p>
<p>celeste…Sometimes “low tech” is the way to go!! 
</p>
<p>There’s always things NMSC won’t tell you over the phone that they release through the mail (i.e. Commended Cutoff score to principals), but the times I’ve called them they’ve always been helpful…when their “rules” allow them to be.</p>
<p>bsalum…No worries about “being a pain”. It can be an important and stressful process, especially for those families that are interested in the schools with large $$ NM scholarships. Make sure you read through the FAQ thread towards the top of the NM forum as that might answer a lot of questions you could have regarding the whole process.</p>
<p>bsalum, just checked S’s CB account. The entire format is different and I can’t find anything that corresponds to that ‘gray box’ entry in the mailed report. They don’t even seem to add up the subscores into a ‘selection index’ online. Or I am being dense. Maybe someone else has more luck.</p>
<p>wolverine, you’re right. I have had occasion to call them and they put you at ease, very nice people. Kind of a joke since I do find myself sometimes jumping through hoops to avoid picking up the phone (not everyone is as easy to deal with as the NMSC folks) and have to laugh at myself for that.</p>
<p>2 things for @bsalum: one, on quick start it should say on the lower right, popular tools for Juniors (that at least tells you that they have her year listed correctly), two, go into the update my info tab, upper right, and see if her social security last 4 digits are listed (that tells you that she is most likely listed as a US Citizen which is one of the hoops for NMSF - I know also available to permanent residents).
Just a little more comfort until you can call tomorrow.</p>
<p>@celesteroberts, thanks for your advice and yes, I did already cover all of that w/DS’s GC at the Jr. Mtg. In fact, if you can believe this, his particular GC is the school’s designated counselor for everything NMSC-related! She had never heard of the letter, didn’t seem interested in investigating it, etc. I was appalled. But that wasn’t the only thing about the Jr. Mtg that appalled me - the whole event was basically a joke. I do realize our GCs have a huge amount of work on their plates, but I was pretty upset upon leaving the meeting. If I went to a meeting at <em>my</em> office as unprepared as the GC came to DS’s meeting, I would hear about it from my management. However, if I complain, then that will come back to bite DS when it’s time for counselor recs. And I have 3 other kids coming up behind DS - all of whom will have the same counselor - so that’s another consideration. To hear other parents talk, their DCs had about the same level of (non)engagement from their respective GCs at our HS. Pretty unbelievable. </p>
<p>I appreciate the info from everyone and I will definitely go find DS’s PSAT score report now. I believe he got a hard copy from the school at one point in January. He should definitely be a Commended Scholar, so I want to make sure there are no errors. Also, I do like the suggestion of asking for confirmation from the school in the context of applying for a program or a job. DS could put National Merit Commended Scholar on is resume even now, couldn’t he? He was well above 201 and haven’t the Commended Scholars technically been “named” via this letter to the principals? So that’s one way I could approach it, via a follow-up email to the counselor. </p>
<p>Our HS typically has a good number of NMS, NMSF and NMCs, so it’s surprising that they are this disorganized and/or non-communicative about everything related to it.</p>
<p>@Wolverine86, that is a good suggestion, too! I will look for DS’s PSAT score sheet, but will also probably call NMC tomorrow just to confirm that he is on the Commended list and everything is OK. </p>
<p>I should add that - in DS’s “Jr. Mtg” w/his GC - she had no idea of his PSAT score whatsoever, and did not once mention having him take the SAT to ensure a “qualifying” score. I would never have known anything about PSAT/SAT/NSMC etc. if not for the good folks on CC - so Thank You to everyone who kindly replied to my post and offered suggestions. </p>
<p>@nomatterwhat, my question did not pertain to DS’s PSAT score, but I would hope that everyone in this forum would feel like they could ask <em>any</em> question about <em>any</em> related topic and be met with helpful responses that guided them in the direction of accurate info. Even if a student/family does not know the DC’s PSAT score by this point (and I actually think that’s possible based on other threads I’ve read here over the years), this is exactly the online forum for everyone to ask questions, seek advice and - when possible - offer advice. </p>
<p>To this point, everyone who qualifies and is 201 + have advanced in the competition. Nobody is commended until August/September when SF are named. </p>
<p>I hate to bring this up now as it might be too late but some corporate sponsors actually wanted their employees to “register” their dependents in the event their PSAT would be in contention for either commended or NMF. One such company is Lockheed Martin which requires their employees to sign up their dependents by February 28th of their Junior year in order to be eligible for corporate NMSC goodies including some awards for commended. I think this is rotten because some folks aren’t even clued into whether their kids would qualify until the schools release their lists in April or later. I saved two of my friends by alerting them to this. Lucky for them, Lockheed Martin gives $3000.00 every year for 4 years renewable. </p>