dkholland Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Our ds has been selected as a semi-finalist and we are going to complete an application for the final selection. Has anyone else here filled out this application...specifically the part about "your school curriculum"? This is the part that profiles our school, but I am not sure how to fill it out. They also mention that we can adapt it to our situation as homeschoolers, but give no guidelines that I can find online on how they want that done. If you have had experience with this and can pm me with some info, I would be very grateful! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 We are not at the stage yet, but wanted to congratulate your son! Hope to hear about his journey through this process!! Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Hi Karen, My dd also got her National Merit package yesterday. I looked it over, and I don't remember doing the high school profile section when I did this with my ds four years ago. Is it a new section? In any case, I'm not going to stress too much over it; they know we're homeschoolers. For "maximum number of courses allowed per term", I'm going to write N/A. For curriculum information, under "highest level course" in each subject area, I'll put the highest level course that either of my children completed. Under "other honors/AP courses" for each subject area, I'll just fill in the rest. Maybe it's just me, but it seems pretty straightforward? The guidance counselor reports for college apps also have some schooly questions that don't really apply to homeschoolers. I felt free to write N/A on those questions when my ds applied. It didn't hurt his acceptances at all. ~Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Hi Karen, My dd also got her National Merit package yesterday. I looked it over, and I don't remember doing the high school profile section when I did this with my ds four years ago. Is it a new section? In any case, I'm not going to stress too much over it; they know we're homeschoolers. For "maximum number of courses allowed per term", I'm going to write N/A. For curriculum information, under "highest level course" in each subject area, I'll put the highest level course that either of my children completed. Under "other honors/AP courses" for each subject area, I'll just fill in the rest. Maybe it's just me, but it seems pretty straightforward? The guidance counselor reports for college apps also have some schooly questions that don't really apply to homeschoolers. I felt free to write N/A on those questions when my ds applied. It didn't hurt his acceptances at all. ~Kathy Thanks Kathy. The letter specifies that some sections won't apply to homeschoolers. I just wish they had specified what they want to do there - if they accept "N/A", I'm fine with that :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkholland Posted August 29, 2009 Author Share Posted August 29, 2009 Thank you Kathy in Richmond!! I filled it out also using the n/a where applicable. In the letter it states that some sections could be fit to our hs situation, but they are not clear on which ones.... A few questions: 1. Am I right to assume a "term" is one semester?? Two per school year? 2. under courses being taken senior year...can i mark the courses he is taking at the cc in the honors/accelerated column? or how do I make note of those taken in college?? 3. If my ds is taking courses right now at the cc, do I mark ýes' that he entered college early? on the same thought....if he will enter college at 17, is that considered early?? Thank you so much for you calm response!! My dh and I have been going around and around about doing this right and I needed to hear that it is not something to stress over. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkholland Posted August 29, 2009 Author Share Posted August 29, 2009 We are not at the stage yet, but wanted to congratulate your son! Hope to hear about his journey through this process!! Tara Thank you Tara. Its exciting and overwhelming at the same time. I am hope i can help someone someday...once I live through it once:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 (edited) Thank you Kathy in Richmond!! I filled it out also using the n/a where applicable. In the letter it states that some sections could be fit to our hs situation, but they are not clear on which ones.... A few questions: 1. Am I right to assume a "term" is one semester?? Two per school year? 2. under courses being taken senior year...can i mark the courses he is taking at the cc in the honors/accelerated column? or how do I make note of those taken in college?? 3. If my ds is taking courses right now at the cc, do I mark ýes' that he entered college early? on the same thought....if he will enter college at 17, is that considered early?? Thank you so much for you calm response!! My dh and I have been going around and around about doing this right and I needed to hear that it is not something to stress over. :001_smile: As for #1 - The form says to say how many terms - so you get to choose I would suppose. :) So far I've just got year-end grades... but I'm open to other ideas.:lurk5: I know we'll make a call to the NM people before this is over - so this may be one for them to answer :) Edited August 29, 2009 by readwithem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 For my son's National Merit application, I typed a form in Excel similar to the layout of the Academic Record page. Since I only give final grades and not "term" grades, my chart had only one column under each grade level, labelled "Final Grade". Also, my son had more math and science courses than their format allowed room for, so I used more lines in those subject areas. My lines were a bit narrower than theirs in order to make sure that the overall chart fit their page. I filled it in on the computer and attached it with (non-glare!) tape. This was perfectly acceptable to the National Merit folks. I intend to do it again this year with my daughter. As for your specific questions, "terms" can be quarters, trimesters, semesters; whatever your particular school uses to issue grades. Sure, I'd mark any 12th grade courses taken at the CC in the honors/accelerated column (in my home-made form, I indicated my son's post AP level classes as "honors" level). Finally, "early college entrance" usually refers to the case where a student skips a grade level such as twelfth grade and enrolls early in college as a full-time degree-seeking student. It happens sometimes that the student is already a college freshman when he's filling out these forms. National Merit works with these students (who can still qualify for an award), but needs to know when they're dealing with such a case. ~Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MgoBlue Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Stupid question but did they mail you these packets for sophmores, juniors, or seniors? I was talking to my friend about it and he advised me to check into it for dd. What scores are necessary. The website I found was confusing...said it depends on what score was achieved on the PSAT, taken as a (sophmore?) My kids took the psat soph & jr years. Now I'm wondering if I should have her take the SAT again to see if she can get a better score? My friend said colleges take the highest of each section regardless of when the test is taken. Any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkholland Posted August 30, 2009 Author Share Posted August 30, 2009 For my son's National Merit application, I typed a form in Excel similar to the layout of the Academic Record page. Since I only give final grades and not "term" grades, my chart had only one column under each grade level, labelled "Final Grade". Also, my son had more math and science courses than their format allowed room for, so I used more lines in those subject areas. My lines were a bit narrower than theirs in order to make sure that the overall chart fit their page. I filled it in on the computer and attached it with (non-glare!) tape. This was perfectly acceptable to the National Merit folks. I intend to do it again this year with my daughter. As for your specific questions, "terms" can be quarters, trimesters, semesters; whatever your particular school uses to issue grades. Sure, I'd mark any 12th grade courses taken at the CC in the honors/accelerated column (in my home-made form, I indicated my son's post AP level classes as "honors" level). Finally, "early college entrance" usually refers to the case where a student skips a grade level such as twelfth grade and enrolls early in college as a full-time degree-seeking student. It happens sometimes that the student is already a college freshman when he's filling out these forms. National Merit works with these students (who can still qualify for an award), but needs to know when they're dealing with such a case. ~Kathy Thank you! I didn't realize that we could adjust that much to fit our situation. You"ve been a great help> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkholland Posted August 30, 2009 Author Share Posted August 30, 2009 MgoBlue...National Merit only uses the PSAT score from a students junior year. If the score is high enough (which is different for each state and different each year), they will send your student a packet with another application for the last phase of selection for a National merit scholarship. The SAT is not involved at all in the selection process. But, your comment is correct about being able to select the highest scores of each section of the SAT to send to colleges. That is a different thing altogether fromm the NM scholarship program. does that answer your questions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MgoBlue Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 (edited) Thanks Karen: She's a senior this year and so she would have received notification last year if her psat score was high enough. My friend just brought this whole topic up this weekend & she couldn't find her psat score. according to a usa today article, she'd need to be over 207 for Indiana--where we live. I've advised her to talk to the counselor's office tomorrow...she's in catholic h.s. I'm hs'ing my 8 yr old dd & have 2 in h.s. confusing, eh? thanks for all your help! paula Edited August 30, 2009 by MgoBlue wrong score Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moira in MA Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Since she is at school, notification will be sent there rather than to her home. Schools have their own timetable for notifications to semi-finalists. One of the requirements for finalist status is a set of SAT scores that validates those received in the PSAT test taken Junior year. HTH Moira Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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