<p>I heard that there is a committee that looks at each student’s application to choose the 2500 students who get the one-time $2500 scholarship. I thought that they looked at PSAT and SAT scores, GPA and classes taken, and the essay/teacher letter. However, today I called NM, and their rep said that a “third party committee” makes the decision. He also said, “I think that the committee mainly looks at what is in the app–grades, essay, and letter–and not at the SAT scores. The SAT’s are mainly used to determine who moves from semifinalist to finalist” (I asked if they look for a score of over 2000, and he said “Uh-huh”). He did qualify his answer by saying that “this committee is a third-party committee, not NM employees, so I can’t speak for exactly how they make the decision”. What have you all heard? Do they consider the exact PSAT score and the SAT in determining who gets the $2500 one-time scholarship?</p>
<p>There’s a thread from last spring where students who rec’d the 2500 posted their stats. That might help you.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1318232-2500-recipients-please-post-stats.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1318232-2500-recipients-please-post-stats.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks a lot, mom2collegekids! I’ll look at it. That sounds very helpful.</p>