Do colleges care about National Merit Scholar?

Many colleges consider SAT or ACT scores or other credentials in awarding merit aid. Many also target scholarships to National Merit winners, finalists or even semifinalists. National Merit commendation is a less common magnet for scholarships, but it is not unheard of.

Does being a National Merit Scholar matter?

Reaching the status of National Merit Commended Scholar or Semifinalist is a strong indicator of your academic excellence to include in your application and may enable you to apply for Special Scholarships. The best way to get yourself in the running for the National Merit Scholarship is to prepare for the PSAT/NMSQT.

How much do colleges care about National Merit?

Most colleges don't sponsor National Merit Scholarships.

Out of over 1,500 four-year colleges with 500 or more full-time undergraduates, only 161 are listed as being likely to offer National Merit Scholarships for the coming year.

Does Harvard care about National Merit?

Some colleges that do NOT sponsor scholarships for National Merit students include Harvard and other Ivy League schools, Middlebury College, MIT, Stanford, and Williams College. You must choose one of the sponsor colleges as your first-choice school on your application to be considered for a scholarship.

How rare is a National Merit Scholar?

Of the 1.5 million applicants who submitted a PSAT score, there are only 7,250 National Merit Scholarship winners. This means you have a 0.5% chance of becoming a National Merit Scholar, making this one of the most competitive merit-based scholarships.

How to Win a National Merit Scholarship | PSAT Tips

Is being a National Merit finalist a big deal?

Recognition: Being a National Merit Finalist is a significant achievement and can be included on college applications, resumes, and other professional documents. Increased college admissions chances: Many colleges and universities give preferential treatment to National Merit Finalists in the admissions process.

Does a 1400 PSAT qualify for National Merit?

3. Does a 1400 PSAT Qualify for National Merit? Based on the scores of real grade 11 students who took the PSAT, a score of 1400 puts you in the 97th percentile. You may not qualify for the National Merit Scholarship with this score: it also depends on the cut-off scores of your state.

Is National Merit impressive?

As mentioned above, becoming a National Merit Semifinalist is an impressive achievement in itself, since just the top 1% of scorers in a given state receive that recognition.

Are National Merit Scholars smart?

Assuming the lower bound is 131, the median National Merit Scholar (a student at the 50th percentile of the group) will have an IQ of 135.

Is National Merit an honor?

They will be named on the basis of a nationally applied Selection Index qualifying score that may vary from year to year. In recognition of their outstanding ability and potential for academic success in college, NMSC will honor these students by sending Letters of Commendation to them through their high schools.

Do colleges see National Merit?

Your SAT and ACT scores are far more important to colleges; your National Merit status does not add much new information. However, having a high number of enrolled Semifinalists is seen as a badge of honor at some colleges and will factor in their admission decisions.

Do Ivy League schools give National Merit Scholarships?

Ivy League universities don't offer merit aid.

"All Ivy League schools, as well as several other very selective schools like Stanford, MIT and Caltech, do not give any academic merit scholarships.

What percentage of students are National Merit Scholars?

A specific number of students, which varies each year, advance to Finalist standing based on these criteria. At the end of the competition, a select group of Finalists are chosen to receive $2500 National Merit Scholarships. Scholarship winners represent less than 1% of the initial pool of student entrants.

How hard is it to be a National Merit?

Of the 1.3 million eligible students who take the PSAT/NMSQT, only about 50,000 of the highest scoring students will receive program recognition. Students whose scores qualify them for recognition in the National Merit Program will be notified through their high schools in September following the test administration.

What is a 1490 PSAT National Merit?

If you're in 11th grade, anything between a 1490 and 1520 places you in the top 1%. About 1.5 million students in each grade take the PSAT each year, so the 99th percentile puts you among the top 15,000 test takers.

How rare is National Merit Semifinalist?

Unlike the national Commended cutoff, Semifinalist cutoffs are calculated state by state. NMSC allocates the 16,000 semifinalists among states based on the annual number of high school graduates. For example, California sees about 2,000 Semifinalists every year, Michigan 500, and Wyoming 25.

Was Bill Gates a National Merit Scholar?

He was a National Merit Scholar when he graduated from Lakeside School in 1973. He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) and enrolled at Harvard College in the autumn of 1973. He chose a pre-law major but took mathematics (including Math 55) and graduate level computer science courses.

Does Harvard accept National Merit Scholarship?

Scholarships and Grants from Outside Harvard

Like many of our students, you may receive scholarship funds from sources outside Harvard, such as secondary schools, civic organizations, your parental employers, corporations, the National Merit Scholarship Programs, and the ROTC.

Is 1470 PSAT enough for National Merit?

To be competitive for National Merit Semifinalist status, students need to score about 1400 on the PSAT in less competitive states like Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota . . . or about 1470 on the PSAT in more competitive states like Connecticut or New Jersey.

Is 1300 a good PSAT score for National Merit?

Juniors who score between 1200–1360 fall within the top 10% of all test-takers. If you are trying to get a National Merit Scholarship you do have to get into the top 1% of test-takers. And remember that the PSAT is scored slightly different than the SAT. While the SAT score range is 400–1600, the PSAT is 320–1520.

Is a 1400 PSAT bad?

If you score between a 1400 and a 1450 you should also be proud. This means you are still in a highly competitive percentile and eligible for entry to highly selective universities. Any score from 1300-1400 leaves some room for improvement, but is nonetheless optimistic!

What percent of people are National Merit finalists?

Approximately 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

What colleges have the most National Merit finalists?

How many National Merit finalists are there 2023?

(Evanston, Illinois) Today, National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) announced this year's National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners. The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program.