Parent of 10th grader just starting to plan, wondering how colleges see rural Alaskans

Parents Forum
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Since National Merit scholarships have been mentioned, and the student under discussion is trans, I’ll point out that the vast majority of colleges that offer automatic or near-automatic really good National Merit scholarships are located in states that have, um, a legal environment that is relatively unfriendly to trans individuals, if that is a consideration.

There are some definite exceptions (e.g., Washington State gives automatic full tuition, though it’s located in Eastern Washington; Nevada Reno WUE+National Merit brings the cost down nicely; Fordham in NYC still has a full-tuition National Merit scholarship, though not everyone gets it; and so on), but that may be worth taking into consideration when deciding whether it’s worth taking the PSAT.

(And lots of people seem to assume that being a National Merit Finalist means you won’t have to pay hardly anything for college. That most definitely isn’t true, if it ever was.)

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A site such as this can serve as a source for ideas:

You will see potentially suitable choices, such as Reed and Wesleyan, for when your daughter begins to research colleges in a specific sense.

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Yes, the PSAT is worth it if you are seeking scholarships. Being a National Merit Finalist opens doors and checkbooks.

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One other note about the PSAT is that it is the qualifier for the College Board National Recognition Program, which includes students from rural locations. The qualifying score is lower than for National Merit, but the number of colleges offering big scholarships for CBNRP is fewer than for NM.

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At some schools, yes. At others, not so much.

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In fact, I’d go further and amend your second sentence to “At most, not so much.”

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