I mean from a purely admissions standpoint. Do I waste a line of awards if I already can show I am good at taking tests with my ACT score?
I’d like to know the answer to this too–I got a 36 and really don’t want to take the SAT but know I’d have to NMSF.
We also had this question as I had already registered my D for the March SAT when we got the ACT results. My D’s college counselor advised that we pull the plug on the SAT as a 36 speaks more highly than National Merit.
What do you mean by “waste a line of awards”?
If you have absolutely zero interest in the NM scholarships or in being able to say you’re a finalist/scholar, then do not bother with the SAT. Hopefully you will get presidential scholar instead.
IF you want to qualify for HUNDREDS of thousands of $$ of merit scholarship $$, then take the SAT.
There are many colleges who will PAY you to go to college if you are a NMSF .
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
So think about that if your parents arent very well off cause college can cost over $65000/ year.
Have you had the $$ talk with your parents yet? The time to do so is now.
It’s naive to forgo the NMF opportunity. While an ACT 36 is super, take SAT and go for NMF. Being a NMF follows you. In fact, when my son’s first internship found out that he was NMF, they instantly raised his salary by $3 an hour.
And there can be larger scholarships for NMF that aren’t available even with a 36.
@jake071999 You’ve recently asked about aid and your divorced parents. The schools that give the best need based aid require BOTH parents’ info. They use CSS Profile.
So, if your parents can’t/won’t pay (and many divorced parents can’t/won’t), you may find that you’ll need a large NMF award to pay for college, especially since you’re premed.
As noted previously, there are some big scholarships for National Merit Finalists listed at http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ . Take the SAT and do what you need to do to move from NMSF to NMF to give you more low cost options. Especially since having divorced parents makes it less likely that need-based financial aid will be enough.
There is no such thing as a “line of awards”. Use the Additional Data section if you have more than the app allows you to list.