<p>@Maxwellequations – Congrats! Sad about the school, but tell your D she will stand out that way. </p>
<p>We haven’t heard anything from the school, and I’m not holding my breath on this one…</p>
<p>I e-mailed my son school counselor 10 days ago, she replied that only one student is a top scorer (>201). I’m sure she doesn’t know what she is talking about, nor familiar with the whole process. She is not competent and lazy, unfortunately my son stuck with her. For the last 3 years our school had at least 7-9 semi finalist & 2 dozens commended/year!! She promised to notify me if she gets the letter. 10 days passed— NOTHING.
Yesterday, I called NMSC myself. Guess what? My son is in the list & HE IS ONE OF THE SEMIFINALISTS for our school (preliminary). His PSAT score is 231, we live in CA.
I also asked the NMSC rep. if there is any verification deadline, she said “no”. But by first week of Oct., NMSC expect the school to finish all the requirements.
Additionally, she told me to tell the counselor to call NMSC to get a copy of verification letter that sent out in April,
(847)866-5162, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Central Time. NMSC only sends the letter to schools not parents.
Thank you for all parents who posted here, I learn a lot. </p>
<p>@kathsj, great score and great news for your son. I cringe every time I hear a story like this about a counselor.
Take heart and know that he is on the right track. Make sure to read all the requirements that NMC has for going beyond NMSF. See this:<a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php#progrec”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php#progrec</a> Unfortunately the body of the information still refers to the 2014 competition, not the 2015 competition. The most important thing your son needs to do is get a confirming score on his SAT (CR+M+10X the multiple choice portion of the writing exam). His score must exceed 1960 (this is the confirming score that they have used for many years, but NMC does not confirm that this is the score). Sounds like he won’t have any problem with getting a confirming score. He has until December 2014 to take the test and get the confirming score, but don’t wait until that late. If he hasn’t taken the SAT already, take it in June, October or November at the latest. In September/October his counselor and principal will have to fill out the forms and send them back to NMC. This is when you will have to be fierce with the school and make sure they do the work</p>
<p>@2kidsinky, the letter never mentions a preliminary cutoff score. See my post on May 5. 201 is the number for commended. State cutoff info will begin to be reported here from registered users receiving notice from their schools starting in/around September (possibly August).</p>
<p>@numbersfun How do you know about this secret cutoff SAT score of 1960?</p>
<p>This is anecdotal evidence from reading many, many posts on this thread and other threads on college confidential. Use the search forum box at the top of any page on CC - ‘confirming SAT score.’ One of the posts from a few years ago said that they did call NMC and that NMC confirmed the 1960. Maybe they still will confirm it, give them a call, see what happens. </p>
<p>@atkathsj - I saw something that said the counselor/principal had to have the application to NMC last year by October 9 - which is a pretty tight deadline. I repeat that that is the time to really be on top of the counselor/principal to make sure they get things in on time.</p>
<p>The 1960 number is not a secret, @bsalum! NMC told me on the phone for my class of 2010 NMF and 2012 NMF that they needed a 1960. It does not include the essay, so multiply the multiple choice score by 10 and add that to the other scores. Also, from my experience, NMC doesn’t want any kid to miss out due to a missed deadline, so they are very flexible and understanding. You do have to get the SAT taken in time, but other deadlines are flexible. </p>
<p>@kathsj, you said
“Yesterday, I called NMSC myself. Guess what? My son is in the list & HE IS ONE OF THE SEMIFINALISTS for our school (preliminary)”.</p>
<p>Did NMC actually TELL YOU he is a semifinalist? Clearly his score is such that he will be, but I have never heard of anyone at NMC giving any hint that someone is a semifinalist in advance. All that is known now is the top 50,000 scores, which includes commended.</p>
<p>Fingers crossed that the 1960 continues. I doubt DS will top his PSAT score, as that was a pretty good day for him. 1960 should be a sure thing though. Well, actually he already has that from October, but we sent fresh May scores sight unseen for free, and hopefully that will clear the bar as well. A 2400 would be nice of course, but I’m not holding my breath.</p>
<p>@numbersfun, I appreciate your info., I printed the pages out and put them in his “college” folder. For sure I will watch the deadlines like a hawk. My son took SAT last January, got 2330 (CR;740, M:800,W:790), so his PSAT pretty much mirrors his PSAT score (SAT=PSATx10), I think he won’t try again. His GPA : unweighted 4.0, rank: 1 out of 630. Our school only uses unweighted GPA and it’s a big public school with more than 2300 students.</p>
<p>@barfly, when I called , I told the rep. our problem with school counselor. I guessed she sympathized with me. She said — " Your son is in the preliminary semifinalist list with several other kids". Also, she said she can’t mention the cut off numbers and other students’ names, but can tell me whether my son in the list or not. Well… actually that’s the only thing I’d like to know.</p>
<p>I never understand how to read the W score - how do we get just the MC part of the writing score? </p>
<p>The writing break down isn’t typically available the first day of scores, but if you go back a few weeks later, you should get the MC and essay break down.</p>
<p>I can’t find the break down. If the total writing score is 780, essay 10, what’s likely to be the MC score? </p>
<p>It should be available on your CB account. It will be a two digit number, not a three digit one. With the scores above, I’d expect it to be pretty high, maybe even a perfect 80. Surely it’s at least 75 or higher. Just add a zero to that number, and use that score in the total instead of the originally given 780.</p>
<p>I just checked my kid’s CB account. On the main page of that session’s scores, click on “understand your scores test performance”, a blue click under the scores themselves. Then click on writing at the top, and it should show both the essay score and the MC score at the top left, right under your blue 780.</p>
<p>It says 76. What does that mean? Is it 760?</p>
<p>I’m sorry, there is a typo on my previous posting. …“so his PSAT pretty much mirrors his PSAT score (SAT=PSATx10)”… should be read… “so his SAT pretty much mirrors his PSAT score (SAT=PSATx10)”.</p>
<p>Yes Maxwell, that would count as 760, lowering his total just a nudge.</p>
<p>thanks @PAMom21 </p>
<p>The last bit of info that has often been mentioned on CC is that the 8000 (out of 16000 finalists) winners of scholarships ($2500/once - not sure how many are NMC corporate scholarships) usually have very high confirming SAT scores. Essentially, the anecdotal reports suggest that a normal confirming score (say 1960-2260, or so) does not get you an NMC scholarship, although it does get you to Finalist standing and ability to get a full ride or semi-full ride at colleges that offer it to finalists. The actual dollar amount of the NMC award is usually not the important part as it is not usually significant enough to change a financial decision about a school (especially for the kids applying to private schools at $50-60K/year) and for the most part any extra award money essentially reduces the financial aid portion of a college’s offer. You can’t win! But the student can have the prestige associated with being one of 16K out of 1.5million PSAT takers. That is a huge accomplishment. Next thing to do is let them pick the lottery numbers!
PS For all of you out there that know of someone with a lower tier confirming score who did receive an NMC scholarship, forgive me. Perhaps they were super-kids with everything else perfect, I do know that NMC does not have a specific methodology (X points for GPA, X points for scores, X points for activities, etc.). Or if they do, they won’t admit to it.<br>
See this thread: <a href=“Minimum SAT score? - National Merit Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1601856-minimum-sat-score.html</a></p>
<p>I won’t hold my breath for the big money. My son is just a bit too nonchalant about all this stuff, and he hasn’t to date really given the critical reading his serious attention, and his scores show that (on both the ACT and the SAT).</p>