Teri H.; Oregon Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 DS was notified about being a National Merit Semi-finalist, and I have been looking at the application I need to fill out! I am completely overwhelmed by the Build Your Curriculum Sections. (A testament that anyone can homeschool thier kids if I can do it! I can't even understand their application! LOL!) Is there anyone that has done this before, or is doing it now and has figured it out, that can help me understand how to fill out these sections? Could you email me offline and walk me through some of my questions? I called NM but the gal I got seemed to feel I should know what they wanted, but I don't! It seems contradictory. In one part they say do it and in another it says you really don't need to if you homeschool. ??? Help please....?? :tongue_smilie: growing5plants@centurytel.net Teri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Hi Teri, Sent you an email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 You might also call and try get someone else at NMS as I have been told that they usually treat homeschoolers quite well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teri H.; Oregon Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 for all your help HiddenJewel!!!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 for all your help HiddenJewel!!!! :) You are very welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NRHdad Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Just noticed the question you posted on the Well-Trained Mind forum. My son was named a NM Semi-Finalist. We saw the announcement in the paper, but did not realize that a letter or packet was to come in the mail. We don't think one ever came. We finally tracked down the online application website, but can't sign in without the userid and password that would be in the letter. We cannot contact NM until Monday morning. Looking around online we learned about the student essay and prompt. I also someone suggest that another teacher (non-parent) needs to submit a recommendation. How exactly does that work? Or how is that submitted? We are contacting a teacher to prepare a recommendation on short notice, but I don't really know what it needs to look like or how it will be sent? And is the transcript filled out online? Any help or information you could provide would be helpful! Thanks, Ken Berry ken.l.berry@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Hi Ken, Congrats - and yikes! You should have received a packet of information. Here's their contact info so you can call on Monday. I've found them to be really helpful on the phone and they should be able to talk you through it. National Merit Scholarship Corporation Main Telephone: (847) 866-5100 Main Fax: (847) 866-5113 You will fill out a transcript form online. If you've already got materials ready for college (transcript, essay, etc.) it will not be that difficult. We used a professor/mentor as the person to do the recommendation and it worked out fine. Keep in mind that the vast majority of semifinalists make it to finalists. They are mostly using this as a screening to keep out any students who are low performing (bad grades, discipline problems, etc.) if there aren't any glaring issues and your son tries on the application, he'll probably be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NRHdad Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Hi Barbara, So how does the teacher/mentor submit the recommendation? Online, email, fax, or mail hardcopy? Is the recommendation a set questionaire? Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 (edited) Hi Barbara,So how does the teacher/mentor submit the recommendation? Online, email, fax, or mail hardcopy? Is the recommendation a set questionaire? Ken It is all done online. I do not know what the third party section looks like as we do not have access to that. However, I got the impression it would be something written. The packets arrived in the mail about 2 weeks before it was released by the news media. Was your home address listed on the test or was it a school's address? If the school listed their code instead of the homeschool code it would have been sent to the school. Edited October 7, 2012 by HiddenJewel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Have all your classes and grades from 9-present ready to go. The student will need all awards and outside involvement ready to list and essay about themselves ready to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Application is due 10/10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NRHdad Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Thanks, Barbara! Teri H. sent a couple of helpful emails also. We'll call the NM office first thing in the morning. We should be able to complete our part tomorrow evening, and we have his music composition prof/mentor waiting to take care of the recommendation Tuesday. I understand that he will get a email with some sort of online access code once we finish on our end. I suppose the packet could have gone to the school where my son took the test. The press release did list him as homeschooled, not a student at the local public high school. No one in our house remembers anything from NMC in the mail in late August or September. We turned the house upside down yesterday looking for it. It wasn't in the pile of college letters and brochures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 It sounds like it got lost in the mail. Good luck and please post an update when you have one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.