Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

Once a student has achieved semi-finalist standing for nat. merit, do PSAT scores continue to matter in the step up to finals? The reason I ask is that my selection index was 217 (WA state), not too far over the bar for semi-finalist cutoffs...

speaking of which, I have a 1550 SAT, 3.66 unweighted GPA, and a decent amount of ec's, including varsity wrestling, youth group leadership, FFA, honor society, etc... do you think the GPA will hurt my chances for finalist standing much? I'm applying to UFL, so all I really care about is finalist standing.

BTW, if anyone's interested, I've discovered that ASU, U of Louisville, UNA, and U of Texas @ Tyler all offer full tuition waivers (and some offer more) for being a mere semi-finalist.

By Chen (Chen) on Friday, December 26, 2003 - 06:51 pm: Edit

I think your GPA is strong enough (at least I've gotten the impression that it is from others), but I am wondering if the having a mix of Bs and Cs will.

By Anxiousmom (Anxiousmom) on Saturday, December 27, 2003 - 07:45 pm: Edit

Nope. PSAT scores don't matter for finalist status. You will make finalist as long as principal/school recommends you, SAT's are decent (yours are fine), and grades are good. C's or D's might knock you out. someone posted that their DD got knocked out for having a D (or C?) in one class. My DD is considering UFL Gainesville also, for their great NM scholarships. We are from Texas. Where do you come from? DD applied a few weeks ago and has already been formally accepted - now we just wait for confirmation of finalist status. What do you hear about UF?????

By Asterik7fish (Asterik7fish) on Thursday, January 01, 2004 - 07:40 pm: Edit

I hail from WA state... what is a DD?
Overall, I've heard pretty good things about UFL, assuming that one isn't intimidated by large schools. I have an uncle in Atlanta, and he tells me that the pharmacutecal co. he works for hires alot of UFL grads. overall, they seem to offer many good programs and a student-friendly faculty... I'd say the biggest drawback is the southern humidity

By Thedad (Thedad) on Friday, January 02, 2004 - 01:57 am: Edit

DD= Dear Daughter (or just plain D for "Daughter")
DS= Dear Son.