<p>Just to clarify, only semifinalist advances and not all commendees, right?</p>
<p>Also how does a commendation helps in College app? My understanding is that only finalists get scholarship.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help. I am breathing a bit more easily.</p>
<p>For those who are comfortable just saying “No asterisk so all is well”, good for you! But this is my 3rd go-round with National Merit, and this is what I know. Mistakes happen. Kids bubble wrong. National Merit Scholarship Corporation inadvertently misses a kid. Schools mess up on paperwork. So I, for one, am being proactive and making sure things are as expected at each step in the process. If anything is out of order, I will have plenty of time to resolve it.</p>
<p>From what I have heard, calling NSMC at this time will not help because they will not tell you if your kid is in the top 50,000 and named in the letter. That is why I contacted the high school.</p>
<p>For other purposes, I have found NMSC to be extremely helpful and courteous. So on down the road, when people need confirmation that the SAT score is high enough, or that their kid is a semifinalist, or whatever, calling NMSC is a great solution. Also, NMSC is flexible with deadlines and is able to correct things that are bubbled incorrectly. So there is no need to worry about those issues. They can be resolved. (Worrying about the cutoff score is appropriate. Carry on.)</p>
<p>If you are wondering how to ask the HS, I assume just asking the principal would work for most, but I contacted the math teacher who seemed most in tune with NM, and she forwarded my letter to the correct person, who responded. I just told her that the letters no longer go to the homes, but only to the school, that my son had a good shot at making NMSF, and that I wanted to confirm that his name was on the list because if it is not, I want to resolve the problem now rather than waiting. </p>
<p>Barfly…The recommendation to call NMSC was in regards to whether or not the student was eligible for consideration, not asking about Commended status or cutoffs. There shouldn’t be any reason why NMSC wouldn’t confirm a student’s eligibility at this point. The asterisk (or lack thereof) has nothing to do with meeting or exceeding any score at this point…strictly an eligibility thing.</p>
<p>Being proactive in the whole process is definitely a good thing, especially if your student’s HS isn’t familiar with the whole process. None of the requirements are particularly difficult for the school to fulfill, but there’s usually about a 1 month window to get all the forms submitted, and if the school isn’t looking for the initial NMSF notification letters in September that window can shrink considerably. I found it to be a “fine line” to walk between inquiring parent and pestering parent (and I’m not sure I didn’t cross the line a few times 
) but if you’re interested in any of the school offering large $$ scholarships (true for our family) you’re looking at upwards of $100K potentially. With that much money involved…you bet I’ll be pestering parent!!</p>
<p>It’s also helpful to see what your high school is planning to submit for your semifinalist! We had one university recommend that we get a copy of the application. I asked for it and was surprised when my son’s GC sent it to me, including her recommendation. Unfortunately it had already been submitted to NMSC. It had some major errors, such as an entire section left blank. I called NMSC and they said the HS could submit a correction, and then I followed up to confirm that was done. Now the students do much of the NM application online, but there is much the GC must complete, some of it purely subjective, so if you can get a copy before it is submitted, it may be worth it. </p>
<p>@FromMD, @STEMFamily, and @numbersfun - thank you! I found DS’s PSAT score report and everything checks out, so DS should be “on the list” for Commended. However, I think I may call NMC on Monday to ask about whether they can confirm that he is in their records. If they cannot/will not, I may <em>try</em> to get DS to visit his counselor this week to ask about whether he’s on the list for Commended. I’m sure he could put it in the context of wanting to add it to his resume. However, we already covered this topic w/her in-depth at the so-called “Junior Meeting,” so I want to tread carefully w/her. Espc since DS’s counselor is supposed to be the point of contact for anything NMC-related at the high school. She had no clue about this letter to our principal, and seemed annoyed that I even asked about it, so I’m not sure I want to send DS back in to ask her again. </p>
<p>I will let everyone know what NMC tells me when I call on Monday. Thanks, again, for all the helpful posts.</p>
<p>For those people calling NMSC tomorrow, the signature name on the letter to the principal is Kimberly Greiner, Director of Scholarship Administration.
PS Totally agree with ^^^^ above, having to play nice with people who don’t do their job and you also have more kids is very frustrating.</p>
<p>Read part of this thread and it makes me nervous. I never thought there would be a problem. What do you all mean? So my D could have done something that makes her disqualify for NMSF? What is it? esp.
what is “everything”? </p>
<p>@Barfly, you make a very good point. It is always good to check up on the details. One of our kids lost a major opportunity because he was told communication would be one way and they actually communicated a different way (and of course the kid wasn’t paying attention to the other way, his error, ugh!). Really can’t depend on other people or counselors to get it right.</p>
<p>PS And we have great counselors in a small school that is really pulling for the kids.</p>
<p>I have my D’s PSAT right here. what should I check to make sure she didn’t make any mistake? </p>
<p>Oh, my @numbersfun, that is awful! My son almost lost a big scholarship due to our GC, who was contacted by a scholarship foundation for a rec letter and told them she didn’t have time.</p>
<p>I say my son “almost” lost the scholarship because he ended up getting it after all - and this is a CC success story! I learned on CC about one boy who had been contacted for an interview after his GC was asked to provide a rec letter. Since my son had not yet heard anything, I decided to call the GC and ask if she had been asked to send a rec letter. When she said she never sent one because she didn’t have time, I first went ballistic, then I sent a PM to the mom here on CC and she filled me in on all the details. Thank you @bringbackpluto! To make a long story short, I contacted the scholarship foundation to apologize for our GC and to let them know that we had great kids at the HS, in spite of the GC, and that in the future I hoped they would not hold this against other students. I was told that the GC was so rude and uncooperative that they just dropped my son from the competition! The scholarships were all handed out already, but they graciously let my son scramble for rec letters from others than the GC, and they reconsidered him, interviewed him, then found money for him in their budget.</p>
<p>@herandhisMom, there should not be an asterisk next to the Selection Index score.</p>
<p>I don’t see any * so I suppose we are okay. Thanks!</p>
<p>@herandhisMom, see the April 26 posts from @FromMD, @STEMFamily and @numbersfun…and then compare that info to your DC’s PSAT score report. Your DC is probably in the clear, but I’m going to call NMC on Monday to see if I can get confirmation of Commended for my DS. I doubt that any of us have issues but I want to check for my own peace of mind.</p>
<p>And I should add that I think it’s <em>lousy</em> that NMC doesn’t notify Commended students via letter anymore. Shoot, send an email if postage costs are prohibitive. I do not understand the so-called logic of this change.</p>
<p>@GoAskDad – I totally agree. An email would be the least they could do. Our school plays down anything to do with NMSC so I know I won’t be hearing anything from them.</p>
<p>I’m glad it worked out for your son, @barfly. Time will tell for our kid. That kind of experience greatly informs your response to iffy situations. </p>
<p>I emailed our guidance counselor regarding national merit and learned that last week they told approximately 20 kids from school that they were eligible for commended status, but nothing would be official until September. S was one of the kids and never told me! Typical…don’t get a lot of information from him!</p>
<p>I found out 47 kids made the commended list at our high school (scored 201 or better). I wonder if I could find out how many made commended last year at our school. If this year was less, maybe that would be more evidence that the semifinalist number will drop from 219 for Texas.</p>
<p>In our school(in Texas), we had our highest numbers of commended students in history - 16. I do hope that the score would drop from 219, though, because I made a 218. 
</p>