National Merit Scholarship?

[Medical Whore]

Is being a National Merit Scholar considered too insignificant of a recognition or too "high school"-ish to be listed in the Work/Activities Section?

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[51487]

I definitely think its a HS recognition...you get it in high school, don't you? That's when I got it?

 

[Spras]

I think it depends on the type of scholarship you got. If you got the scholarship throughout four years of college then it's also considered a collegiate scholarship. If you only got it senior year of high school then it's a high school thing.

 

[Medical Whore]

It's something you earn in high school but get paid for the first two years of college for tuition, books, etc. What do y'all think?

 

[schooldaze]

It's something you earn in high school but get paid for the first two years of college for tuition, books, etc. What do y'all think?

Your achievement for National Merit occurred in HS. Personally, I wouldn't put it on the AMCAS application. It has nothing to do with your college work/studies.

 

[Shredder]

whats up national merit buddy. im listing it--i worked hard for it (actually no) but it cant hurt, ill use everything i have at my disposal. though my school did give me a 4 yr scholarship for it, so its ongoing.

 

[Medical Whore]

actually the scholarship was conditional. You had to have a 3.0+ GPA every semester in order for it to be continually paid out. In essence, you had to earn it semester-to-semester and it wasn't just a freebee from the get-go.

 

[Shredder]

actually the scholarship was conditional. You had to have a 3.0+ GPA every semester in order for it to be continually paid out. In essence, you had to earn it semester-to-semester and it wasn't just a freebee from the get-go.

come on, were premeds. thats a freebee. conditional/earning my foot. im sure even if you screwed up a semester they would give you a grace period.

 

[Chebella]

Is being a National Merit Scholar considered too insignificant of a recognition or too "high school"-ish to be listed in the Work/Activities Section?

I listed my National Merit scholar statue on my amcas, and when i interviewed at Duke, my interviewer actually mentioned it. He actually just said, "so, i see you're a national merit scholar" and then he didn't even ask me any questions, just asked me if I had any questions for him. I think I would definitely list it, it is a big accomplishment, and it shows that you've always been excellent, in highschool, colllege, etc, you have the motivation to keep on being that way. Just my two cents

 

[MoosePilot]

Your achievement for National Merit occurred in HS. Personally, I wouldn't put it on the AMCAS application. It has nothing to do with your college work/studies.

Actually it's a college scholarship. The fact that a lot of the work occurs in HS doesn't matter. I actually got my scholarship money from my college, which makes it a post secondary thing.

 

[getunconcsious]

whats up national merit buddy. im listing it--i worked hard for it (actually no) but it cant hurt, ill use everything i have at my disposal. though my school did give me a 4 yr scholarship for it, so its ongoing.

National Merits represent!

I listed it. It paid my whole way through college, and it's the reason I picked a really crappy undergrad school. And like someone else mentioned, interviewers sometimes ask about it. I'd definitely list it!

 

[crazy_cavalier]

well I guess I'm too stupid and ugly to be a National Merit Scholar.

I'm going to go crawl into my corner and continue being un-special now

 

[sick of waiting]

I also put it on my AMCAS. It came up in 2 of my interviews!

 

[Chouster]

Maybe you can help me out. What did you write for its description? Other than "I got X amount of dollars over Y years". I just seems like there's so little to write about other than:

1. When I was named a scholar
2. How many years in college I was rewarded with its scholarship money
3. How much money I got
4. What I spent it on.

What else??!

I also put it on my AMCAS. It came up in 2 of my interviews!

 

[getunconcsious]

well I guess I'm too stupid and ugly to be a National Merit Scholar.

I'm going to go crawl into my corner and continue being un-special now

I think this is the best thing I've ever seen you post

 

[Medical Whore]

Maybe you can help me out. What did you write for its description? Other than "I got X amount of dollars over Y years". I just seems like there's so little to write about other than:

1. When I was named a scholar
2. How many years in college I was rewarded with its scholarship money
3. How much money I got
4. What I spent it on.

What else??!

bump. for all you national merit scholars SDNers, how did you describe this award in your application?

 

[teh-t]

i didn't describe mine, but if i did, I would go to the home page of the merit scholar program, and find a what their description is. Dont copy it, but be sure to get all the essentials

 

[Shredder]

i didn't describe mine, but if i did, I would go to the home page of the merit scholar program, and find a what their description is. Dont copy it, but be sure to get all the essentials

rough draft of what ive written so far:

Of 1.3 million PSAT takers during the junior year of high school, about 15,000 are notified that they have qualified as Finalists for this award. Winners are chosen based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments--without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. A variety of information is available for scholarships selectors to evaluate--the Finalist's academic record, information about the high school's curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, school official's written recommendation, information about the student's activities and leadership, and the Finalist's own essay.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation notifies approximately 8,200 Finalists that they have been selected to receive a Merit Scholarship award. I was given a College-sponsored Merit Scholarship award from the University of Texas, which amounted to $3250 per year for the four years of my undergraduate study.

i lifted most of this from the national merit website. i figure some of the important things are criteria, selectivity, and amount

 

[teh-t]

looks good but do you need to reveal the exact $$ amount?

 

[Medical Whore]

Thanks Shredder, I'm going to use some of those statistics for my description. Don't worry, I'll word it in my own way

 

[crazy_cavalier]

I think this is the best thing I've ever seen you post

well, it takes a rare person to appreciate the postings that sprout forth from the corpuscle of my small, non-merit-winning simian brain.

 

[Medical Whore]

Something just clicked in my mind. If I remember correctly now, there are two grades of National Merit qualifiers. For those who scored in the 99th percentile, from that point on they may or may not become finalists is this true? In essence, there's a Nat. Merit scholar and a Nat. Merit Scholar Finalist, is this correct? I say this because it seems some ppl got 4 years worth of scholarship money when I only got two. Unless NMS Corp. screwed me outta some money...

 

[baylorshannon]

Yeah, there is a distinction between Finalists and actual Scholars. I think Scholars are the ones who recieve corporate scholarships...maybe?? At my recognition dinner through my dad's company, there were two differenct types of scholarships. I got a four-year stipend, and the other three students got two - maybe that has to do with classification as Finalist/Scholar. I don't really know.

 

[MoosePilot]

Yeah, there is a distinction between Finalists and actual Scholars. I think Scholars are the ones who recieve corporate scholarships...maybe?? At my recognition dinner through my dad's company, there were two differenct types of scholarships. I got a four-year stipend, and the other three students got two - maybe that has to do with classification as Finalist/Scholar. I don't really know.

National Merit Finalists who get any scholarship, either corporate or college, are Scholars.

 

[Medical Whore]

So given that I got the two year scholarship that makes me a National Merit Scholar and not a National Merit Finalist. Correct? Just wanna make sure I have this absolutely correct on my Work/Activities section. Thanks.

 

[MoosePilot]

So given that I got the two year scholarship that makes me a National Merit Scholar and not a National Merit Finalist. Correct? Just wanna make sure I have this absolutely correct on my Work/Activities section. Thanks.

Well....

It makes you a National Merit Scholar, but all Scholars were finalists first. Not that it matters, but as a technicality.

 

[exmike]

wow, didnt realize national merit was a big deal. i omitted it

 

[Shredder]

I think everyone knows what National Merit is. I'll probably remove some of the specifics from my description before submitting, those guys have to read enough. I don't see any reason to omit it entirely though.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Are those of you who are listing National Merit on your application traditional students graduating from college next year? I was a National Merit Scholar but I received my scholarship in 1993 and used it until 1997. As a nontraditional applicant, would it look funny for me to list it now?

 

[Medical Whore]

Are those of you who are listing National Merit on your application traditional students graduating from college next year? I was a National Merit Scholar but I received my scholarship in 1993 and used it until 1997. As a nontraditional applicant, would it look funny for me to list it now?

I think it's okay, because it helped pay your way through college. Even though that was a decade ago, it still means that you were above other college students in that respect, and as we know anything to distinguish yourself (if even only a little bit) is good. I, like Shredder, am going to refrain from making it sound bigger than it is. In fact, I think I only have 3 or 4 sentences in my description.

 

[Loco Loki]

well, it takes a rare person to appreciate the postings that sprout forth from the corpuscle of my small, non-merit-winning simian brain.

Don't feel too bad, Einstein, Watson, Newton, ect. weren't National Merit Scholars either! I think Mr. Get still hasn't taken the prescription that I had recommended for him. A pity.

As for the subject at hand: I had that and some piddly scholarships (Governor's Scholarship in California) from doing well on the ******ed standardized testing, as well as from those stupid APs. I think they don't give them out anymore because the budget crisis? Anyway, I put em' all down, no one ever brought it up as a red flag at all. I suggest you do the same, unless you have 15 other incredibly significant things.