Any national merit scholar semifinalists here?

N

navyfamilyof4

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Have any of you received finalist notifications yet? Just wondering if they have gone out yet. It’s supposed to be mid Feb
 
My DS' HS announced via twitter 2 finalists for this year from his school- Ds is a plebe this yr
 
My daughter was a semi finalist and was just notified she is officially a finalist. Our massive Chicagoland HS of 4000 had 6 finalists in the senior class of 1000.
 
mara said:
My daughter was a semi finalist and was just notified she is officially a finalist. Our massive Chicagoland HS of 4000 had 6 finalists in the senior class of 1000.
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When and how notified? Snail mail? Or via school counselor? Also congrats!!!!
 
I have seen a lot less mention of National Merit on these forums than I expected. Does the designation of National Merit semi-finalist add any points for admission to the SA's? Since semi-finalist is based on PSAT I don't see why PSAT would even be looked at. What about finalist? It is based on a lot more than SAT score - but wouldn't it come in too late to make a difference for admissions?

Do any of the National Merit scholarships apply/help at SA's? Thanks for any info. My 11th grade son expects to be named semi-finalist in September when the state cutoffs come out.
 
My son missed commended by 1 point in our state. We are not an SAT state and while everyone takes the PSAT, it's kind of a joke to most who take it. My son absolutely rocked the math part but didn't do as well on the english part (which became the impetus for practice tests focusing on that for ACT and SAT).
 
williamsdr3 said:
I have seen a lot less mention of National Merit on these forums than I expected. Does the designation of National Merit semi-finalist add any points for admission to the SA's? Since semi-finalist is based on PSAT I don't see why PSAT would even be looked at. What about finalist? It is based on a lot more than SAT score - but wouldn't it come in too late to make a difference for admissions?

Do any of the National Merit scholarships apply/help at SA's? Thanks for any info. My 11th grade son expects to be named semi-finalist in September when the state cutoffs come out.
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My son said he’s 99% sure he didn’t see anything on USMA and USNA applications about National Merit recognition. I suspect timing of notification has something to do with that, as well as the fact that qualifying scores vary by state.
 
I have seen it referenced as one of the many "goodies" attributed to candidates in press releases by MOCs - MOCs probably value and use it.
 
National Merit scholarship is a waste. It's a multiple choice test, for god sake, and trying to get a perfect score should Not be the goal …. Instead, test the kid on her Ability to write and engage her reader, or test her on her mathematical ingenuity, like creating some new non-novel combinatoric relationship, and give awards to the best writing submissions and the best new Math problems and solutions.

If you can do one of these tests, like the SAT, and achieve a 90% in all categories …. You're Done …. Call it a day. Our DD took the SAT one time, in her Junior year, and scored above the 90% in all categories. I believe it was 700 math, and around 650 verbal … My Wife and I said you are done … She prepared by studying a few of those old math portions that are available, and took it in May of last year …. Done …. Move on.

Some parents that I know drove their kids crazy to prepare for these things, and this is very wrong too …. And it shouldn't be treated like a sport either.

Another thing. The Academy is educating kids to be Engineers and Scientists who are taught to Break things. It is Ok to break things. It is how humans learn and society progresses. Are Scientists and Engineers perfectionists ? No.
 
Dr. Strange Love said:
National Merit scholarship is a waste. It's a multiple choice test, for god sake, and trying to get a perfect score should Not be the goal …. Instead, test the kid on her Ability to write and engage her reader, or test her on her mathematical ingenuity, like creating some new non-novel combinatoric relationship, and give awards to the best writing submissions and the best new Math problems and solutions.

If you can do one of these tests, like the SAT, and achieve a 90% in all categories …. You're Done …. Call it a day. Our DD took the SAT one time, in her Junior year, and scored above the 90% in all categories. I believe it was 700 math, and around 650 verbal … My Wife and I said you are done … She prepared by studying a few of those old math portions that are available, and took it in May of last year …. Done …. Move on.

Some parents that I know drove their kids crazy to prepare for these things, and this is very wrong too …. And it shouldn't be treated like a sport either.

Another thing. The Academy is educating kids to be Engineers and Scientists who are taught to Break things. It is Ok to break things. It is how humans learn and society progresses. Are Scientists and Engineers perfectionists ? No.
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When my DD took the psat we knew she was a good test taker. This test in no way proved whether or not she was “smart”. She said so herself and I am a teacher agree. There are many kids who are “smarter” that don’t test well...that being said she certainly won’t turn up her nose at the scholarship money that is attached to the program.
 
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