Not trying to advertise, but if any ever want to homeschool, Stanford online high school is just awesome. Very tough curriculum,but the professors are so helpful and considerate and attentive. And yes, it is a little costly,but great financial aid. speaking to that, they care about all accomplishments by their students. I can’t imagine why a high school would not want to celebrate students who work hard and prepare for something like the Psat nmsqt. Especially when it might be that students best chance at affording college.
The AP Lang teacher at my D’s school is the PSAT prep sponsor. She read the letter from CB (which implies NMF if you don’t read it carefully) along with read the names of all the commended students to her classes. There has not been a school wide announcement yet, but it may be in the school periodical mailed to the parents.
Her schools PSAT Prep works as follows
-All sophomores are required to take the PSAT, paid for by the school
-The high PSAT scorers as sophomores, around 40, were invited to participate in a PSAT prep boot camp over the summer
-Follow-up prep was provided in fall by the school and the district
-The high PSAT scorers are strongly encouraged to take AP Lang, which incorporates some PSAT and SAT prep
-All Juniors are required to take the SAT w/writing on the March in-school date, then again in fall as seniors
The prep was OK, it was more about raising awareness and encouraging the students to take the tests seriously.
Saw your post from Utah… Trying to clarify our cutoff better. D School has 3 over 209 cutoff starting at 212 and school usually has 1-6 NMSF. Do you possess any info on your school?
S’s school has not said a word about Commended as far as I know. He’s over the 209 cutoff but it hasn’t been mentioned. Maybe it’s not a thing?
I was curious as to whether D’s school announced commended at awards night, which was last night. But since she didn’t go, no way to know unless she brings a program home today with her award(s). The typically announce commended at the same time they announce NMSF.
Nothing formal about commended at S’s school. They wait until September when the NMSF cutoff is announced and then they announce the semifinalists and commended students.
If you are looking at engineering schools in Alabama, look at UAH (Huntsville). It is a very good engineering school and if you have a 34 ACT and 4.0 GPA they give full tuition AND on-campus housing. Still gotta pay for food…but that isn’t so bad 
GPA of 3.5 and up and ACT of 30-33 will get full tuition.
My D visited UCF last month and really liked it there. Her brother and his wife live in Orlando which is a nice incentive She would be on the Pre-Law path.
I know someone that works with the UCF Moot Court team, they did well at the nationals this year.
One of the best things about UCF is the Burnett Honors College. If you D in near NMSF then she should be a candidate.
@RW1 culling news reports I see my Utah D’s HS usually has 1 to 3 SF. My D was 220. Her counselor said her 1480 was highest, but he didn’t know about index numbers. Her perfect score was math, so possible that those with lower total score could have had higher index. Initially I was nervous that the whole curve was pushed up, but I relaxed (a little) once the commended cut off came out. Usually Utah cutoff for SF is not much above the commended. Fingers crossed!
@slaudsmom thanks for the news - I think 220 is safe in Utah. Feel proud - the highest score at the school!!
Maybe more SI cut off guidance will come next week for us if CB releases revised concordance tables.
Just waiting on those SAT scores.
I know this is fodder for another thread,but my son is so intelligent and so accomplished academically,but he has no idea what he wants to be or major in. Any words of wisdom for a Dad?
Post that question here:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-majors/
@snicks1234 What Color is Your Parachute for teens
http://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Parachute-Teens-Third/dp/1607745771/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462593031&sr=1-1&keywords=what+color+is+your+parachute+for+teens
For those who are going to make National Merit Finalist, we recommend visits to Alabama, Oklahoma, Baylor and ASU. The scholarships are over the top, the campuses amazing and the experiences while different, fabulous. Alabama has amazing new buildings, Greek houses that are ginormous, football culture, and study abroad programs that are amazing. Oklahoma was similar to Alabama, culture even friendlier and looked like it would be home. The traditions of Baylor, full private tuition, school of faith and amazing athletic programs knocked us out…and then, there’s ASU. Was on the list just to check out and my son fell in love. The Honors College (Barrett) is the bomb. The innovation program is substantive. As a computer science student, great opportunities to explore innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as Grand Challenge program. Dean of Barrett, head of computer science and the head of Gamechangers made themselves available and they know how to make a kid feel like a million bucks. After visiting 22 colleges over last 2.5 years, there was no question in our son’s mind and that was that he was going to ASU. It’s the largest American college and oddly felt like the smallest because of the Barrett school. Want to stretch your budget? Visit these four schools. We are stunned and thrilled at how ASU gets better by the day!
@Ldoponce We are very fortunate the college counselor’s are amazing. They meet with the kids 3 times (1 hour sessions) and then it’s scheduling appts as the student feels they need to discuss something. son’s cc has about 40 kids too. She’s covered everything with him already including which teachers to ask to write his college recommendations. He had two teachers in mind, I didn’t agree with one of his choices because I knew the teacher would write an excellent recommendation but I knew a different teacher would write a phenomenal recommendation. My view was based on what they write on report card narratives. When I called to suggest that they should add in this third teacher to their discussion, she explained to me why that teacher’s recommendation, while stellar, would not carry as much weight. It all made perfect sense. Have your DD schedule a meeting and go in with a series of questions/ discussion points such as who might be good recommendation choices. Maybe you want to attend to and make sure the cc doesn’t brush her off. I was surprised when I learned the college counselors didn’t meet with students and parents but once I saw how proactive and truly involved they were I understood why they do it this way.
@CaucAsianDad She is commended, but not sure she’ll be high enough to be SF. Has ACT of 34 ( writing 30 ) GPA 4.4 though, and we are looking into Burnett
It’s a shame that UC colleges don’t offer any National Merit Finalist scholarships. A real shame for high-achieving CA resident kids who want to stay in CA.
What is a shame is that a private college like Harvard has a 55 billion dollar endowment and does no merit based scholarships.Went to MIT for info day,given by a student,who was almost arrogant and rude when one of the prospective students asked about merit scholarships.A real shame.And these public universities that ignore it in my state bring in hundreds of millions each year,and I believe they are subsidized by the state.Sad for the high achievers who work so hard to not see it recognized,especially at the high school level.I dont even begin to understand that.