<p>CAFreemontDad, I could be wrong, but I assume that one has to check the guardian box, rather than a parent box, to activate that field. Just a guess, though.</p>
<p>@TexasSNH, sorry I was wrong about 2400 characters max for the essay. After some careful experiments, I figured out the number of max characters allowed is about 3538 (including white spaces). May be up to 750 words.</p>
<p>@NaperMom, YES! Once I checked Guardian (also Father and Mother), the field becomes fillable. Thanks NaperMom!</p>
<p>CAFremontDad, glad it was right. My interpretation of that box is that it is only filled in to specifiy the name of the guardian that the student is living with when the guardian is not a parent. I am not sure of your situation, but want to make sure that you are looking at the question correctly.</p>
<p>The instructions say:</p>
<p>“Have a record of consistently very high academic performance in all of grades 9 through 12 and in any college course work taken. Your school must provide a complete record of high school courses you have taken, grades earned, and course work you will take in grade 12”. This is confusing. They require high academic performance in all college course work taken, but are only asking for the high school grades to be sent? Or do they also want grades sent for college courses?</p>
<p>My D sent SAT score along with SAT II scores she already took.
Is this ok for NMF scholarship application ?</p>
<p>Does anyone know if NM updates the status in real time? Has anyone checked the via the students login to confirm the school has transmitted?</p>
<p>Good question.
DS’ status still states that his school has not sent in the application.
He stopped by the office on Friday and they assured him that they ‘will’ get it done. I am just hoping I will see the status changed to completion by tomorrow.</p>
<p>NMSC does update the status in real time. You can log in and see from your account as soon as the school submit their part. You can also call NMSC to verify the status. NMSC is very nice and helpful. Remember you don’t have much time left. Get all the requirement done ASAP.</p>
<p>Sorry if this is a bit irrelevant, but when are the scores usually announced? Not the cutoff, but the actual psat score. I’m from the Class of 2015, so we took it last month. Shouldn’t the scores be announced around 1-2 months later, like the SAT?</p>
<p>They come out around Dec, but some schools wait til Jan to tell the students.</p>
<p>Sorta Hypothetical situation: let’s say the student, class of 2014, and the school have completed everything for NMF status. Now let’s say student does poorly academically in school for the 1st semester of 2013/2014 senior year. Does the school have an obligation to report this or would the poor academics otherwise compromise the NMF standing?</p>
<p>Not hypothetical at all. NMSFs are not immune to senioritis, though most of them manage to deal with it without letting schoolwork slide TOO much.</p>
<p>NMSC document about requirements to advance from NMSF to NMF.</p>
<p><a href=“http://nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf[/url]”>http://nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf</a></p>
<ol>
<li>Have a record of consistently very high academic performance in all of grades 9 through 12 and in any college course work taken. Your school must provide a complete record of high school courses you have taken, grades earned, and course work you will take in grade 12. The school should also notify National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) of any noticeable decline in your academic performance during the current year.</li>
</ol>
<p>I guess it is up to each school to determine what is “noticeable decline”. I would also think a school would be reluctant to do something that will reduce the chance of having one less NMF.</p>
<p>I just updated another thread with links to the 2013 PSAT Practice Test and answers. Please incorporate for future reference. Thank you all for your contribution to this wealth of resources.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16694373-post32.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16694373-post32.html</a></p>
<p>If the rejection letters go out before first semester senior year grades (or in some cases, first semester college for those students who went early) are available, is there still a chance for a student to be rejected between Jan and Feb if the grades for that semester turn out to be sub-par?</p>
<p>In other words, can you still get a rejection after the initial wave of rejections go out the first week of January?</p>
<p>I don’t think NMSC will need another transcript from your HS. That being said, after rejection letters go out if your grade goes down it will not affect your NMF status.</p>
<p>I have a question. Can one become a NMSF without being a US citizen/permanent resident? I mean I know that a non-US citizen can’t become a NMF, but everywhere I’ve looked have said nothing about a non-US citizen ineligible to become a NMF. So far I have the impression that all one needs to become a NMSF is to have the qualifying cutoff score and THEN one will needs to be a US citizen/permanent resident if one wants to become a NMF. Can anyone clear this up for me? Thanks.</p>
<p>wisely, from the NMSC site</p>
<p>[National</a> Merit Scholarship Corporation - NMSP](<a href=“http://nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php]National”>http://nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php)</p>
<p>Do you see on the page where it says ‘Not yet a US citizen? Click here’</p>
<p>Click there. Info is laid out about what you need to do to become eligible to participate in the NMS program (which includes NMSF, not just NMF), though it is rather sketchy on details. I recommend calling them in advance to discuss this so you can be sure your documentation is submitted correctly and meets their standards.</p>
<p>There is also a place to click to see the questions you answer on PSAT that determine eligibility. You’ll see that #13d is the one that concerns you. You need to be at least in the midst of applying for permanent residency, if you are not permanent resident already.</p>
<p>Is there a way to estimate the state cutoffs before NMSC announces semifinalists?</p>
<p>There is a long wait between when scores for the PSAT are received (typically December) and semifinalists are notified of their status (September of the following year). In early February [typically], the College Board will post state-by-state breakdowns of the scores from the most recent PSAT for college bound high school juniors. You will be able to see these reports as well as previous years’ archives at [College-Bound</a> Juniors & Sophomores | Research and Development](<a href=“http://research.collegeboard.org/programs/psat/data/cb-jr]College-Bound”>SAT Suite of Assessments – Reports | College Board)</p>
<p>Based on comparisons from previous years’ reports and the historical state cutoff scores, better estimations of the next year’s graduating class cutoffs can be made. It’s still far from exact science. It gives anxious students and parents something to focus on during the wait.</p>