@crazydad Congrats!! I’m not seein’ the crazy by the way…
Deep breaths folks…
Fwiw, both my s’s were NMFs . For one it meant $2K/year and for the other it meant a whopping $750/year.
@jym626 but going through that experience gives you the expertise to help with this thread. So you got that going for you. Which is nice. B-)
@3scoutsmom glad to see that someone else has critical thinking skills.
For my son, it got him a $52,000 per year scholarship last year.
Waiting on my daughter’s fate this year. I am fairly certain that she will be a couple of points short in MO, but she did earn commended and her HS really plays up the award. Last year my son was the only NMF and they had two commended students. All three students were recognized at a school board meeting and the end of year award ceremony.
I’d like to apply for the position of honorary whackjob, please. I’ve kept up with this whole darn thread and my S hasn’t even taken the PSAT yet! @-)
I wanted to see how this year’s results fell out so we’d have some idea what to expect for next year.
Hang in there, everyone. You’ll all know soon. 
If we aren’t trusting one post, then we can throw the Kentucky score out the window too.
@SonOfAbraham At this point I don’t know if ANYONE trusts that score from KY.
Our large public Texas school had 27 SF last year and 42 commended. It was not seen as a big deal to the school. My daughter was SF but honestly she did not want to go to any of the schools that still give money for this. Son is a senior sitting with a 219. Probably not going to happen for him, but frankly we don’t see much benefit.
Yeah – I know we re a bit anxious - but let’s keep it as cool as we can – we can also monitor what Art posts. We also know some folks who have a long history of participating and have previously shared their scores. I had hoped we’d get more info today but seems like Monday at this point. Really hope Texas cutoff is lower (219 or below)!! Don’t think there is confirmation Ky is at 215 but rather that 215 qualifies, right?
Results sure have brought out some ugly characters. Shame.
Let’s be patient, not only waiting on the scores to be reported, but with each other. For some it’s not going to change things much either way but for some families, they are waiting so they can finalize their kids college lists. For some schools NMF is full or half tuition so it’s understandable if some people are a bit anxious.
@crazydad Try to hold it together for a few more days; there is just not enough information out yet. Follow the thread already posted and follow Compass to see if more information posts there. http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/national-merit-semifinalist-cutoffs/ Good luck! So far things look good for you. Hang in there a few more days.
Nothing official here, but yesterday I got mail from the University of Houston advertising their honors college and their full ride for National Merit Finalists. For some of us, this seemingly implicit confirmation might come faster than actual results.
Colleges don’t have the cut-offs.
And a 224 in NJ or DC last year didn’t get NM but those kids probably had out-of-the-ballpark SAT’s and were accepted to elite schools and/or offered great scholarships. There are many paths to a successful college career.
@itsgettingreal17 They might have access to the list of semifinalists. The marketing must be targeted in some way. It was a good enough confirmation for me, personally; I was pretty confident of my status beforehand, though.
Colleges must have something. We have seen quite an uptick in mail this week – all ranges but many like what @deltea mentioned, as well as ones from top 20 schools. It might not be new info; maybe just what they had purchased form CB back when scores originally came out. Then again, it may just be because application season is heating up and college reps are about head out around the country to visit schools and hold info sessions. If they really do have new info, eg, names of NMF contenders, how disappointing that they get to find out before the kids who did all the work … or the parents who supported them!
I tend to think the college mail uptick has more to do with the college app season than anything else. We’ve had mail from schools she’s routinely been getting info from, as well as others. She took the SAT in June to go on ad get her confirming score, in case … so I’m sure that factors in there as well…
Posters in last years have tried to read the tea leaves of mailings around NMSF time. I honestly doubt colleges have “the” list; most likely they are using purchased mailing lists based off last year’s PSAT data.
(I have a low post count and a recent-ish join date, but I have been reading CC regularly since 2007 when my eldest was a hs freshman.)