I got National Merit Finalism

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Yay! I am a national merit finalist! Just sharing an accomplishment. For those who do not know a national merit finalist is someone who took the PSAT(practice SAT) did really well and got accepted by the national merit corporation as a finalist. http://www.nationalmerit.org/

It is sort of cool because now I can get scholarships and stuff. I am sort of happy.

that's a true honor

Awesome! I won't know until next fall, but I am definately in the running for it. I scored in the 99th percentile, but New York is usually higher than the national percentiles...

Really! Cool! What did you get on your PSAT? I got a 226 on mine. That would be so good for you if you got national merit!

Woo-hoo! Yay for you! Congratulations!

I was a finalist as well and I was awarded a scholarship that paid for a big part of my college expenses, since my parents did not earn very much money and I kept my expenses low.

Sorry, I don't remember my exact score, but it was probably in the 99th percentile.

I got a 219. I could have gotten 222, but I got this really simple question wrong because I misread it. But seriously, that's awesome. I have a feeling AS may give us a leg up on these sorts of tests...

219, it is possible that you could get national merit. You are sort of borderline and will at least get commended. You are running on the border, in Texas you would have made it though but I am not sure about New York. I hope you make it though. Actually, I would not be surprised if our aspieness gives us an edge. I find tests very easy, especially multiple choice because I can just look at them and figure out which answers are not correct, I don't use any of the testing strategies that most people teach.

Was that a joke? National Merit is deep within the 99 percentile. It is the top .5% of test scores. That is like saying "I went to the hospital for bullet wounds so I probably got shot by a gun". If it was a joke then it was relatively amusing.

Congratulations, definitely a worthy topic.

I remember my shot at the PSAT - I wandered into school late (as usual... my chronic insomnia) with some fast-food breakfast in hand (while eating in class was verboten, for whatever reason I was allowed to do so) and noticed that everyone was unusually quiet and the desks were all spaced out as though a test were taking place... well, that would be because there was this PSAT thing going on that I had no idea was happening. (Always being late = never hearing the announcements or hearing what's going on in homeroom.) It was about an hour into the thing and the teacher nearly had a heart attack before locating a test for me and placing me into a corner to get started. Unfortunately, though you can use a calculator on the math section, I didn't have one. Still managed a "commended student" designation but have always regretted the mix-up, especially since, when my scores came in, my teachers congratulated me for being a semi-finalist - so I was apparently pretty close. Oh well... I've been accepted and dropped out of four different universities already and can't keep myself to one career for more than a couple of years anyway so it likely wouldn't have done me much good.

Congratulations !

Yeah, I was a National Merit Finalist too. I was quite pleased. Congratulations to you.

Congratulations! Ah, as a current sophomore approaching the testing for my PSAT next year, do you have any helpful hints on what might help me study for next year? I took the PSAT last October and recieved a score of 212. I am planning to shoot for National Merit if I can, and I would appreciate any comments that you might have as to how I may better achieve this goal.

SAT classes and SAT books are always good to have. Like my school offered some free SAT classes afterschool my Junior year before I took the test. Really, the best advice I can give you is to maybe buy a study book somewhere, go to classes if they are available to you and try to fix your weaknesses if at all possible. If you suck at math try to improve your algebra and geometry, if you suck at critical reading then practice on reading things for meaning, if you suck at writing practice finding and fixing mistakes. I really cannot give very good advice on how to do it, there is no magic formula, only work on your weaknesses. Hope you make it!!

Thank you for the tips! I know math is my weakness (at a score of 59 compared to my 75 and 79 in critical reading and writing respectively) and have been planning to go over my problems and correct them, as well as studying all my math notes if I can find them before the test next year. My school also offers after-school SAT/PSAT prep courses, which I was planning to attend. Again, thank you for your help!

Wow, you have really good reading and writing. I know that my writing was always my weakness. I didn't actually start using punctuation until sometime in 8th grade I think. Yeah, work on your math, just try to get good at algebra and mathematical thinking. Ok, that is easier said than done but it is a skill/talent that is taught/improved by most good math classes as well as physics classes and possibly chemistry classes too.

My strength is math really but part of that is because I took a calculus class junior year and my algebra had to get a lot better in order to keep up. It is sort of odd to think that we have opposite skill sets on the SAT/PSAT.

I really hope you make it. I think that if you try that you can make it because I think that your score is currently at the lower end of national merit at less rigorous states but I am not sure, you are most certainly a commended. Just go for the gold though, I assure you it is worth it because you have all sorts of colleges offering you great scholarships. Heck, I picked my college because of the national merit scholar package.

Thank you! I actually pride myself quite a lot on my writing skills; I'm one of the best paper-writers in my class and I'm very good at grammar and spelling. I have something of an affinity for languages and the fact that I take Latin has tremendously improved my grammatical skills. As for reading, my AP World History teacher once told me that I had awesome reading comprehension, and since I combine that with a reading speed that was, at last timing, about 3 pages a minute, I'm pretty good at that too. Most of the questions I missed there were of the 'duh, I should have checked that' type.

If I make National Scholar of Merit, I'm automatically eligible for something like three different scholarships, one of which is substantial and sponsored by my Dad's company. That's actually why I'm going for it; I'm considering trying to go into academia or alternately vet work, and I can use as much spare cash as possible.

My mathematical problems stem mainly from the fact that I don't check my work enough. I'm going to go over the proper mathematical forumulae that I may have forgotten before next year's test and I took Honors Chemistry this year and liked it enough that I'll be taking AP Chemistry next year (which picks up where Honors Chemistry leaves off). Combine that with the Physics class I'm taking because I need it to graduate and the Honors Precalculus class I'm taking for a math credit, next year's going to be HEAVY on the math. I think I'll get a lot of practice in it. According to my math teacher, Precalc is actually harder than Calculus because it covers so much in such a short time.