I was notified by my school earlier this week that I was named “commended” because of my PSAT score. ( 
) I’m a little confused on all how of this works, so I have a few questions.
-I just added the honor to my common app - however, I’ve already applied to two schools, so they did not receive that as part of their application. I’ve heard that when I do receive an official notice that I’ll be able to send my PSAT score to three schools - should I send it to two of these, or some of my reach schools to legitimize my commendation?
-Do any schools offer scholarship money for National Merit Commended? (My mom is super upset that I sent in my application to a safety school without notifying them about my comended status)
-Did letters go out already? Should I be concerned I haven’t gotten one yet?
Thanks!
are you sure that you were told about being Commended this week? I thought those announcements were earlier.
Recently, schools have been telling their students that they’re National Merit Semi Finalists. Are you sure that’s not what you were told?
I think that there is only one or two schools that give scholarships for Commended, and they’re likely schools that you’ve never heard of.
What schools are you applying to?
You can update the schools that you already applied to with that information. Not many colleges offer money for commended but a couple do and they are in the list of schools that offer scholarships for finalists. I don’t have the link handy but I think it’s pinned to the top of this forum. Wright state offers a full ride (tuition, room, board, even books) for commended but only to Ohio residents. They do offer something to out of state students.
A few colleges that give notable awards for commended students are included in this list:
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
The Wright State award is full ride for Ohio Residents. Non-residents get the same amount, so they still have to pay OOS portion of tuition (~$8,300 this year).
In another post you mention having an ACT 30, an ACT 31 superscored.
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The most competitive colleges I’m applying to thus far are Northeastern and Boston College, both of which have 31’s as their 25th percentile score. I would like to try for some more competitive colleges such as Stanford, Penn, and Columbia, but I’d prefer to get my scores up before doing this. And it’d also help to have a better chance at merit scholarships.
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Stanford, Penn, and Columbia do not give merit scholarships. BC only gives a smallish number, but really those would go to those with tippy top stats…like ACT 35-36. NEU does have some merit, but your stats would have to be higher.
Merit is often based on single-sittings, not super-scores, so be aware of that.
An ACT 30 can get large awards at some schools…many more schools than “Commended” award schools.
It sounds like your mom really wants you to get large scholarships. How much will your family pay for college each year?
Which schools are your financial safety schools? (schools that you know FOR SURE that you have ALL costs covered?)
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So I’m from Ohio. UW is my dream school, but my parents told me I can’t attend unless I get a free ride (which is valid, I think). I’m curious how likely it is that I’ll get a generous financial aid package from UW. (I think I know the answer, but I’m hopeful I’ll hear the opposite.) Do they favor OOS students? Are they more merit based, or more need based? If it helps, I have a 30 ACT and a 3.7ish GPA unweighted.
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First off, take UW off your list…it will not be affordable. You won’t get much in merit, if any, and the cost will be high…which your parents won’t pay.
Since your parents said that you needed a “free ride” to attend, does that mean that they aren’t paying much/anything for college?
Take NYU off your list if you haven’t already. Your parents aren’t going to pay $70k per year for you to go there.
I think you need a totally new list. You’re focused on expensive schools that won’t give you the money you need.
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My family is upper-middle class, but our budget is tight,
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You need a new list. Otherwise you’re going to end up with a handful of unaffordable schools.
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-NYU
-Boston U
-George Washington
-Tulane
-DePaul
-Pace
-Suffolk
-U of Denver
-Minnesota
-U of IL Chicago
-LIU Brooklyn (Is this a bad school? I’ve heard conflicting things.)
-U of Akron (because my mom works there, aka free tuition)
-Wooster (because free application, and I was told I would get “maximum scholarship consideration”, and my mom said so. She wants to use their offer to bribe other schools into giving me more money…)
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Is that true about College of Wooster? What does that mean?
UW-Madison will give you zero. OOS COA is $45k and rising.