I’m having the t-shirts made as we speak.
I just want to get this straight. The letters mailed out on the 23rd were only to those who made the cut correct? If you didn’t make the cut, your commened letter will go out at a later date?
We were all watching the window today for the postman. We are so pathetic.
Well, and aren’t more and more schools abandoning the NMSC scholarships? Back nearly 40 years ago it was a BIG deal to get NM because it was a good source of scholarship money for some pretty top schools. Things have changed a lot sense then.
Yes @rb681000 , at this stage, as a homeschooler, you would only get a letter if your student meets your state’s cutoff. Otherwise you will get a letter in late September (after the official NMSF press release). Don’t panic yet those, as those letters seem to travel very slowly.
just added “member of a relatively small group of whack jobs” to my resume.
@MotherOfDragons …glad to know that I have a group that I can actually fit into. lol
NMSC releases the names of the SF to the press so they aren’t treating it like HIPAA or even FERPA.
i hope you are right. However, if the commended cut off has risen from 203 from last year to 209 this year, it does concern me.
But the press release won’t include any mention of cut-offs. That is only available from NMSC via a phone call. I’m wondering if someone can actually call and ask for more than one state! They will probably discourage “comparisons” but maybe you can say you are asking for your distant relative in Osh Kosh or something. @Dolemite
@Mamelot I think it was less of a deal to be NMF 40 years ago. I was not aware of any scholarship money other than from NMCorp which no one in our school seemed to get. Maybe schools back east had big scholarships like Alabama and the like, but we didn’t know about them. There is much more info available now with the internet.
@PAMom21 Thanks! I will try not to panic. We are pretty rural, and our mail service has never been very reliable. My mom always sends birthday cards to the kids at the same time. We will receive one card the next day and the other a couple of days later.
I am thankful that some schools do offer merit scholarships for NMFs. My S17 means to make use of them if he qualifies. Merit scholarships in general seem to be going away to be replaced with need-based aid. Since we are in the doughnut hole between need and full pay, I appreciate this gift.
I am in support of merit scholarships, but purely based on PSAT scores may not be a good idea.
My daughter will also take advantage of an opportunity at the University of Kentucky. We too are in the doughnut hole. and I am very grateful that she can graduate debt free and use what we saved for professional school.
Hello all, faithful follower here. S will be Commended at 210 in FL. Wondering about Commended announcements. I I see from googling the announcements in past years from prominent high schools that the high schools often list the commended students in the same announcement as the Semifinalists (with appropriate distinction between the two). So my question - when do commended get notification? the high school must get the list - or are they using the list they received in April of students “continuing in the process” and with the newly received list of NMSF they just make the announcement of both Semifinalists and commended? I think those crazy 99% on the PSAT gave my S false hope and,even though I have tried to gently temper his expectations, I’m sure disappointment is ahead 
Al Gore invented snail mail.
@fluffernutter – haha. Guess it is supposedly safe from hackers though. Art posted that he is “Hoping for initial reports before the weekend.” So if no ones gets any news to share today perhaps we will have something pretty soon - after all we have waited almost 8 mos!! Why are the last few days so difficult – whack jobs are us!
@Boomer14 My D, also commended and also in FL, was told by her school last May (?) that she was one of a small group to to continue on in the NMSQ process. That means she is at least commended but the actual announcement that she is commended (not continuing as a NMSF) will be made in September. I can see that schools may make the public announcement of both at the same time.
Been there done that
@CaucAsianDad Thanks. Unfortunately my S’s high school did not tell the students anything last Spring. So it makes the whole process a little unbelievable to me until we get some word from the school. Oh well - we wait.
good luck everyone - I’m truly pulling for all the awesome students represented in this thread. Bright futures ahead for these hard workers!
@Boomer14 - From what I remember, commended students get a letter that is sent to their HS. Here is what is said in the NMC student guide for the 2016 cohort:
34,000 Commended Students.
In late September 2016, more than two-thirds of the 50,000 high scorers will receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise, but they will not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships. However, some of these students may be candidates for Special Scholarships provided by corporate and business sponsors.
From: http://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/student_guide.pdf
@DoyleB - I’m flattered that someone kept track! Of course I’m pretty confident that I’ve made enough predictions that some of them have to be close!!! 
Once we get some real data, I can certainly use my programs to extrapolate to other states.