My counselor made a mistake on my national merit semifinalist application, HELP!!!

Test Preparation
1

<p>Okay, so here’s the story, my school counselor accidentally calculated my GPA wrong, and got it .12 points lower than it should have been, bumping my class rank down from 7 to 13.</p>

<p>I didn’t realize that my GPA should have been higher until after the fact, and I think the lowered GPA and rank will really hurt my chances of being chosen as a winner.</p>

<p>Is there any way I can contact them to change my GPA and rank???</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>have your counselor call collegeboard.</p>

3

<p>During my daughters junior year of high school, we had to move to another state, and because of large differences in the way that grades and GPA’s are calculated, her GPA and class rank went from 8 to about 20. This made no difference in her becoming a finalist, however–I really think that they mainly check that the SAT scores align with the PSAT score-that the grades over the high school career consisit of mainly A’s and B’s (a few C’s seem to be ok)–I really very much doubt that such a small change in GPA and rank would make a difference–they are both still very high. You could call college board and ask, however. They were very nice when we called to make sure that they had the correct info. regarding first choice colleges. The only kids who seem to not make it to finalists (about 1,000 out of the 16,000 semis’) are the ones who do not do the paperwork, are not citizens,or who have very large discrepencies in their SAT score along with many low grades.</p>

4

<p>I think you’ll need to contact the National Merit organization, not College Board. The paperwork all went to the NMSC.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/contact.php[/url]”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/contact.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>But RCEFN is correct. A small change in GPA won’t make a difference in the NM. They are trying to make sure you are not a “one shot wonder” with an SAT verifying score, and not a lazy genius who is in the bottom 10% of the class (to use extremes).</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the responses.</p>

<p>But I’m still a bit confused. I thought National Merit took everything into consideration when deciding whether or not to give you the scholarship itself. I know I don’t really need the bonus to become a finalist, but to get the itself award, aren’t GPA and Class rank considered?</p>

<p>Edit: My gpa is 4.563 (but 4.444 on the ap) and my sat score is 2250. Do you think that is enough to make me a finalist (and maybe a winner), even if I can’t get the problem fixed?</p>

7

<p>almost all semi-finalists become finalists. the mistake your counselor made will not effect your chances at all. stop worrying.</p>