S/O: National Merit Scholar money….is it really worth it?

[Dcclerk]

Our experience echoes Globetrotters. And USC definitely had the best package for NMF. That said, my kiddo went to a state university and got no $$ whatsoever from the school and from the College Board. I read that about half of the NMFs get scholarships, too, but we didn't know a single NMF IRL who received one Even though he didn't get a scholarship, though, I do think that NMF was a helpful proxy for ACT/SAT for the test-blind schools, if they were interested in knowing it. (As an aside, it is interesting to me that the current NM award is only $2500. When I got it 8 billion years ago, it was $1500. I think the $1500 was probably relatively more valuable for my costs that were about $10K per year.)

Given that the test is usually given during school hours for most students, I would certainly encourage everyone to try to take it. There isn't anything to lose, and at minimum, it is practice for the SAT.

[bisous]

Congratulations to the brilliant children of the BBB! Back in the day I was a quarter finalist but it didn't yield anything in particular. My strong test taking did help me to get into the college I wanted to attend and helped attain a scholarship. My sister was a NM Finalist and I think she got maybe 1K a year? But tuition at our school was only 2K so it was a pretty good gig.

I sort of regret not having DS attempt it last year. But at the time of the test his mental health was not great and he was unvaccinated. I'm really at peace with it and I'm still SO excited for my fellow BBBers. Nothing makes me happier on here than to read the successes of your CHILDREN--the little kids I got to read about throughout these long years who are coming into their own!

[KrisM]

DS1 is also a semi-finalist. Michigan's cut was 219 and he had 221, but it was still a nerve-wracking wait!

He's applied to a couple big scholarship schools - U of Alabama is 5 years of tuition, 4 of room and then a cash stipend. Arizona State is free tuition. These are for the National Merit Finalsits, which we anticipate him becoming.

He really doesn't know where he wants to go as of now. He wants engineering, which narrows it some, but there are a lot of good choices still. And he knows he doesn't want to pay a ton of money. He's hoping for some good competitive scholarships as well, but we will see.

We knew he had a chance to be a semi-finalist because he's strong in most areas of school and he is a good test-taker. So he did study over the summer after 10th. He didn't do the PSAT 10 since it was covid and canceled. But he did practice tests and reviewed the answers he got wrong and tricky ones he wasn't sure of. His year was the first one that required everyone to take the test, and that was because the spring one was canceled. It was offered here yesterday and about 30 of 400 11th graders took it.

[ahisma]

New HS mom here - what is a UC?

[KpbS]

We didn't have DS take it. He has a TON of test anxiety and it was not "worth" it for us to have him take it. He would not have scored in the top 1% but did take and do well on the ACT for college admissions.

[Globetrotter]

New HS mom here - what is a UC?

UC means university of california

[AnnieW625]

Congratulations to the semi finalists and finalist kids here….what an accomplishment.

I totally get that it is free and that a bonus but again I have a kid who stresses herself out a ton so I don’t want to cause her an additional stress. After taking the PSAT yesterday (10th grade) though I think she is feeling better about it. If her scores are good enough though she will at least hopefully qualify for one of the Hispanic heritage scholarships as well.

Thanks for all of the information. That is great news about USC being half off for a merit scholar finalist but honestly I am not sure that would be enough to make it reasonable unless it truly was the price of a UC ($20k plus room and board so $30k max per year and then total debt after being graduation being maybe $50k….) I figure at this point we can pay $20k per year with little to no savings…..…..I know no where near the BBB norm, but our reality of being state employees and living in a hcol to vhcol area….at least we are still pre retirement age when our kids are in college

That Alabama package is amazing.

New HS mom here - what is a UC?

University of California (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Merced, Riverside, Davis, and Irvine plus San Francisco for law school and medical degrees for grad. students only).

UC schools like out of state and international admissions because they can collect a ton more in out of state tuition.


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[georgiegirl]

Thanks for all the info. I’m excited to see my state has a low index score (211), so that should give DD (10th grade)a better chance. I didn’t sign her up this year (it’s this Saturday). I’ll have her take a class next summer so she will be prepared.


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[baymom]

DS is also a semi finalist and because he (like many kids, due to COVID closures) never had a chance to take the PSAT last year, the college board also used SAT scores to assess this year. We only found out late because he couldn’t find any correspondence from them but guessed he might have because his SAT score was in the same range as his friends who were semi finalists. He confirmed with the HS counselor and was able to get an extension from the CB to submit his application for finalist. So, all that to say, if you’re in California and didn’t take the PSAT, it doesn’t hurt to have your child look into if they qualified as a semi finalist. We did also then call the CB ( and talk to a real person!) to confirm that he had an extension to submit the finalist application.

[cheme]

Congratulations to the semi finalists and finalist kids here….what an accomplishment.

I totally get that it is free and that a bonus but again I have a kid who stresses herself out a ton so I don’t want to cause her an additional stress. After taking the PSAT yesterday (10th grade) though I think she is feeling better about it. If her scores are good enough though she will at least hopefully qualify for one of the Hispanic heritage scholarships as well.

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The 10th grade test is just practice. Even though it is the same test, only the 11th grade one counts for National Merit Semifinalist or National Hispanic Scholar (recently renamed National Recognition Program). However, sophomores can qualify for National Recognition if they take two AP tests sophomore year and get 3's or better and are one of the underrepresented groups included.

My oldest was both a National Merit Semifinalist and National Recognition Program recipient. Although she did not get any money directly from the program, I believe that having those recognitions helped her get other scholarship offers. She had offers directly related to the programs (free tuition at UArizona and ASU, full ride at U Alabama, UF and UCF and UTD). The offer she ended up accepting was full tuition. It was a competitive scholarship not directly related to National Merit, but I having those recognitions couldn't have hurt!

For CA, National Recognition is much easier to get than National Merit - but there are still benefits. It could always change, but currently UArizona and ASU offer full tuition for National Recognition. They are good affordable backups to have.