" Also, ACT could be zero as far as College Board is concerned. PSAT then SAT are all the consider."
That’s true but it will change next year when ACT can be used for confirming score. Also, while the vast majority of NMSF’s move on to finalist stage (15,000 out of 16,000), and most of the 1,000 or so who don’t probably didn’t bother to fill out an application, national merit does look at your transcript and some applicants get dinged every year for low grades.