<p>I have two children who were finalists; I recall the process of advancing from semi-finalist to finalist as pretty much a matter of red tape; it is yours to lose. In other words, as stated above, unless your application is incomplete or late, or your SAT test scores, transcript, or recommendations are grossly inconsistent with your PSAT score, you will be fine. Don’t sweat the essay, just make sure it is of the required length, grammatically correct, thoughtful and sincere – nothing particularly memorable or fabulous necessary.</p>