National Merit Scholarship Finalist Application questions ~

[debbiec]

Yes, I know. This is MONTHS away!

 

From what I can determine, DS will qualify for semi-finalist just based on his numbers for our state. I know an application packet comes in September with a deadline of mid October sometime. Here are my questions:

 

1. Semi-finalists are deteremined on a state by state level. Do the 15K finalists they choose from the 16K semi-finalists also based on state, or does everyone nationally compete against each other at that point with no state consideration. Or do we even know?

 

2. From reading the 2011 application general information (application is not on-line), your school counselor has to fill out forms. Did you act as the school counselor and write the recommendation required?

 

3. GPA ~ did you calculate that? DS has been in public school, college classes, AP, tutorial and home. Did you weight everything equallly. I think it may have stated to, but I really don't know not having seen the form.

 

4. I had a question about this post from last spring about it seeming more likely to get additional aid from a university if the school is listed on the NMS application. They did send a dated letter to add submit two schools when the initial spring letter came. Can the schools on the Finalist application be different than the ones we previously listed.

 

5. The bottom line is, DS really needs $$. From the smaller colleges he is looking at, few of them even have any provision for offering merit based on the NMSQT or ACT alone (though one does and they allow you to stack scholarhips). His ACT was very high (almost perfect score, which I know is not even that unusual anymore so I'm not sure that will even be helpful for $$. I know it's helpful for admissions, but he is not striving for a top tier college, because he frankly, just doesn't want to work THAT hard :001_smile:

So question #5 is ~ is it more likely that a public university would offer him more $$ based on NMSQT (semi-finalist or finalist) or ACT? Should I be looking a little more at public universities since money is a huge consideration?

 

I'm just mentally trying to prepare myself because I'm not fond of surprises and we will be in the thick of his final football season which will be challenging for us time-wise with additional college visits, football, applcations, college classes, etc. (I thought I reduced the load his senior year to not be as crazy as last year :001_huh:)

 

I have read a lot on- line about the whole NMS process but only have questions about the application. The GPA is going to be the tough one for him to make Finalist. Frankly, I'm not anticipating him making finalist and know that we will be doing a lot of work and he will likely be in that bottom thousand of the semi-finalists that doesn't make it. Fine with me except for the all the paperwork.

 

Thanks in advance ~

Edited July 1, 2011 by debbiec

[Muttichen]

You do fill out the guidance counselor section. The vast majority of semifinalists become finalists -- you don't need a perfect GPA or anything like that. I think most of the kids who don't make it are ineligible in some way (e.g., they aren't 11th graders).

 

When you get the packet in the fall, it's all very self-explanatory and it's a good warm-up for the college apps. It's really not too bad!

[Kirsten in MO]

It is never really explained why a student moves from semi-finalist to finalist, but they obviously have a system for determining that! The qualifying score can vary from year to year and state to state, based on the number of high scoring tests that year. But like Muttichen said, he probably has a good chance of being a finalist if you submit all the paperwork on time and do a thorough job of it.

 

My son is a NMF, and we had his classical guitar teacher, who is an adjunct professor at the University in our town, do his recommendation. I filled out all the rest of the paperwork. The school that you list as your top choice can be changed up until April. In fact, you can change it as many times as you want. It is important to realize that the award from NM is not very much, unless you or your husband work for a company that is a NM sponsor. Then your son would receive whatever amount that company sponsors for. The real money comes from the universities that offer scholarships to NM finalists. My son was offered full or near full tuition from University of Oklahoma, U of Alabama, U of Central Florida (who really caters to NM sholars), and Auburn University. BUT, not all schools will do that, only the ones that want those NM students.

 

My son chose Auburn, so he will be attending there in the fall with only his books and food to pay for. My husband said the other day that he was on their website and they have since changed their NM offer to less than full tuition and board, perhaps because (he thinks) they had twice as many NM students apply as they had the year before.

 

My advice would be to google a list (someone on these boards had the list just recently) of the schools offering good NM scholarships and pick a few that your son might be interested in and plan a campus visit. If he makes finalist, the sooner you know what school he wants the better. Remember, not all schools offer these great scholarships. My son had a near perfect ACT as well, but it was his NM status that brought the best scholarship offers.

 

Good luck, and I hope he makes it!

Kirsten

[Kirsten in MO]

You may already know this, but if your son makes semi-finalist, one of the things he HAS to do to make finalist is take the SAT. Here in the midwest where I live, the ACT is king, so most kids take that. Only the ones looking at east coast or west coast schools take the SAT. In fact, the only place reasonable close to us offering the SAT was a private Luthran school in another town.

 

His scores on the SAT need to be comparable to his PSAT scores. So, if he hasn't taken it yet, then by the time you get notified in September, that leaves very little time to take it. My son took it in October, and I believe the last date your allowed to take it is in December. Fortunately, my son scored really high, so he just took it that one time and we were good! If you think he has a good shot of making semi-finalist, then you might want to have him take the SAT as soon as possible.

 

Kirsten

[MomsintheGarden]

Hi Debbie,

 

Congratulations to your son! My daughter went through this process a couple of years ago. I think you are wise to plan ahead, as the senior year can be quite hectic! My answers are in blue.

 

Yes, I know. This is MONTHS away!

Good idea to plan for this as the forms can take some time to fill out, plus you need to get it to the person writing the recommendation in a timely manner.

 

From what I can determine, DS will qualify for semi-finalist just based on his numbers for our state. I know an application packet comes in September with a deadline of mid October sometime. Here are my questions:

 

1. Semi-finalists are deteremined on a state by state level. Do the 15K finalists they choose from the 16K semi-finalists also based on state, or does everyone nationally compete against each other at that point with no state consideration. Or do we even know?

The 15K finalists are chosen from the 16K without respect to state.

 

2. From reading the 2011 application general information (application is not on-line), your school counselor has to fill out forms. Did you act as the school counselor and write the recommendation required?

I acted as the school counselor and filled out the forms EXCEPT I did not write the recommendation. Home school parents are not allowed to write it. There is space for an essay, from what I remember (without digging out the papers) it is about 5". We typed and printed out everything - they give you a pdf to fill out - then taped (yes, taped!) it to the official form they send you in the mail. We had the director of the local wildlife center where dd had worked for several years write the recommendation, then she mailed it directly from her home, return receipt. It would be good to line up someone now.

 

3. GPA ~ did you calculate that? DS has been in public school, college classes, AP, tutorial and home. Did you weight everything equallly. I think it may have stated to, but I really don't know not having seen the form.

Yes, I calculated GPA, and weighted everything equally, but you can choose. There are places to list if it is unweighted or weighted, as well as if your school offers IB/AP/Honors/etc.

 

4. I had a question about this post from last spring about it seeming more likely to get additional aid from a university if the school is listed on the NMS application. They did send a dated letter to add submit two schools when the initial spring letter came. Can the schools on the Finalist application be different than the ones we previously listed.

Dd attended a school that required listing it on the NMF application to get the special NM scholarship. She listed the school on the form. You have until April, I believe, to change your mind, though. A good strategy is to list a school on the form that you will probably attend that has aid tied directly to the NM process, instead of a school that only offers need-based aid.

 

5. The bottom line is, DS really needs $$. From the smaller colleges he is looking at, few of them even have any provision for offering merit based on the NMSQT or ACT alone (though one does and they allow you to stack scholarhips). His ACT was very high (almost perfect score, which I know is not even that unusual anymore so I'm not sure that will even be helpful for $$. I know it's helpful for admissions, but he is not striving for a top tier college, because he frankly, just doesn't want to work THAT hard :001_smile:

So question #5 is ~ is it more likely that a public university would offer him more $$ based on NMSQT (semi-finalist or finalist) or ACT? Should I be looking a little more at public universities since money is a huge consideration?

I'm sorry, but I can't really answer that question. There are a few lists on the internet of schools that give scholarships to NMF. When searching, check out the school's website for more complete information, and call them. Dd had originally planned to attend a school that offered a NMF scholarship, but they changed their scholarship structure early in her senior year. She ended up attending a different school that gave very generous aid to NMF, and it worked out well.

 

ETA: Dd attends a private college. I have found private and public colleges/universities that offer generous NMF aid. It depends on the college. You will need to do your research depending on where your ds wants to go.

 

I'm just mentally trying to prepare myself because I'm not fond of surprises and we will be in the thick of his final football season which will be challenging for us time-wise with additional college visits, football, applcations, college classes, etc. (I thought I reduced the load his senior year to not be as crazy as last year :001_huh:)

 

I have read a lot on- line about the whole NMS process but only have questions about the application. The GPA is going to be the tough one for him to make Finalist. Frankly, I'm not anticipating him making finalist and know that we will be doing a lot of work and he will likely be in that bottom thousand of the semi-finalists that doesn't make it. Fine with me except for the all the paperwork.

The selection of NMF is a mystery to all but the NMSQT folks. I have heard that those who don't make it are likely to have:

1. had problems with their application (didn't turn it in, missed the deadline, didn't fill it out completely or properly, etc.).

2. had very low grades or a low SAT score (I've heard they want 2000+).

3. had disciplinary problems at school (suspended/expelled/etc.).

But this is all pure speculation.

 

Thanks in advance ~

 

You're welcome. :) If you have any more questions about the NMF application, you are welcome to ask here. The NM folks are very helpful, though. I highly recommend that you contact them for their official information. They were very nice to talk with and answered my questions thoroughly. There were several of us homeschooling moms on this forum going through the process at the same time. We all asked each other questions; most of us called the NM staff at least a couple of times!

 

Best wishes for your ds's senior year.

 

GardenMom

Edited July 2, 2011 by MomsintheGarden

[debbiec]

In the Southeast, ACT is king, but most take both tests here anyway. He took the SAT in May and his scores, I think, were in line with his PSAT score if I just look at percentiles.

[debbiec]

Thanks for your thorough answers! They were really helpful. DS prefers to attend a private school, but two of the three schools we are looking at (and we are visiting those two in two weeks) do not have anything on their website about NMF aid. One of them does. For the two that do not, I wonder if they just do not advertise it on their website, though they have a list of many of their scholarships. That will be one thing we will need to inquire about at the visit. I was just wondering (aloud) if we needed to broaden our search a bit more for some good back-ups that will offer generous aid. We have heard several local stories of students getting full rides (yes - full) to colleges that were not at the top of their lists, but they ended up attending that school based on $$.

 

We have two instructors (college) that have offered to write him recommendations, so we will likely use one of them.

 

Many thanks again.

[Susann]

Yes, I know. This is MONTHS away!

 

From what I can determine, DS will qualify for semi-finalist just based on his numbers for our state. I know an application packet comes in September with a deadline of mid October sometime. Here are my questions:

 

1. Semi-finalists are deteremined on a state by state level. Do the 15K finalists they choose from the 16K semi-finalists also based on state, or does everyone nationally compete against each other at that point with no state consideration. Or do we even know?

 

My dd was a NMF winner year before last and just finished her freshman year of college. If I'm remembering correctly, the winners are chosen on a state by state basis.

 

2. From reading the 2011 application general information (application is not on-line), your school counselor has to fill out forms. Did you act as the school counselor and write the recommendation required?

 

I could of written the recommendation. However, we had the teacher from the only outside class my dd took write it.

 

3. GPA ~ did you calculate that? DS has been in public school, college classes, AP, tutorial and home. Did you weight everything equallly. I think it may have stated to, but I really don't know not having seen the form.

 

Not sure on this one but I think they would all be weighed equally.

 

4. I had a question about this post from last spring about it seeming more likely to get additional aid from a university if the school is listed on the NMS application. They did send a dated letter to add submit two schools when the initial spring letter came. Can the schools on the Finalist application be different than the ones we previously listed.

 

Yes, if you list the school as your first choice. If there is a place to list schools on the Finalist ap (I can't remember), then you would be able to choose the schools you are now interested in.

 

5. The bottom line is, DS really needs $$. From the smaller colleges he is looking at, few of them even have any provision for offering merit based on the NMSQT or ACT alone (though one does and they allow you to stack scholarhips). His ACT was very high (almost perfect score, which I know is not even that unusual anymore so I'm not sure that will even be helpful for $$. I know it's helpful for admissions, but he is not striving for a top tier college, because he frankly, just doesn't want to work THAT hard :001_smile:

So question #5 is ~ is it more likely that a public university would offer him more $$ based on NMSQT (semi-finalist or finalist) or ACT? Should I be looking a little more at public universities since money is a huge consideration?

 

Oddly enough, the private colleges offered more $ than the state ones because they worked with us to find other scholarship $. However, several public universities offered dd at least 3/4 to free tuition with the winner status. My dd is at Rose-Hulman the #1 engineering school for bachelors/masters degrees in the US per US News & World Report for the last 12 years. At $50,000 + per year it was NEVER. NEVER. NEVER. on our radar until she was a NM winner. Because she was a NM winner, they also worked to find other scholarships for her and have been wonderful to work with. FWIW, $50,00 +/year was about what by dh earned last year so it really wasn't on the radar at. all. Also, my dh lost his job in February and just returned to work last month. RH is working with us to find more $ to help with this upcoming year. I'm not sure the public schools would be so easy to work with.

 

I'm just mentally trying to prepare myself because I'm not fond of surprises and we will be in the thick of his final football season which will be challenging for us time-wise with additional college visits, football, applcations, college classes, etc. (I thought I reduced the load his senior year to not be as crazy as last year :001_huh:) Reducing is fine, just don't slack.

 

I have read a lot on- line about the whole NMS process but only have questions about the application. The GPA is going to be the tough one for him to make Finalist. Frankly, I'm not anticipating him making finalist and know that we will be doing a lot of work and he will likely be in that bottom thousand of the semi-finalists that doesn't make it. Fine with me except for the all the paperwork.

 

My impression with choosing the winners was that if you:

* submitted all the paperwork on time

* took the test

* had a solid recommendation

* had a solid senior year planned and didn't slack off

 

 

Basically, jump through the hoops and you're a winner!

 

 

Thanks in advance ~

 

Good Luck, it's definately worth the work!!!

[Kirsten in MO]

Momsinthegarden mentioned taping information to the form....when we received the NM packet last September there was a new option to fill the forms out online. It was the first year the option was available. The paper form was still an option, but I think they are trying to move to a completely online process.

 

The schools that sent my DS scholarship offers (totally unsolicited by us) were not on our radar screen either, but the schools he was looking at in MO (Missouri S&T and U of Missouri) do not offer ANY extra scholarship money for NM finalists. So, he chose to take the money and go out of state!

 

Kirsten

[Kendall]

I agree that the move from semi-finalist to finalist is a mystery! The one thing that I will add to what others have said is that threads on collegetalkconfidential seem to indicate that the GPA seems to need to be above 3.50. I called the National Merit Corp. and last year's comparing score for the SAT was 1960 and that it hovers around that and is determined each year. She thought that they would know in August or September what this years comparing score will be.

 

Some schools will give scholarships for semi-finalist status.