# What's the significance of National Merit Scholar semifinalist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 24, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-significance-of-national-merit-scholar-semifinalist/170877 "2003-04-24T16:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-significance-of-national-merit-scholar-semifinalist/170877/41 "2003-04-25T16:07:25Z")
Me again, the mother of said 16 year old National Merit semifinalist, hijacking my own thread. Thanks to all of you for the information- quite useful. Good stuff! 2 things on the personal, family nerd front. I went to Bard College, where I majored in Philosophy. I never finished high school. I quit after 10th grade, goofed around like a good hippie for two years, and started college at 18. Hence my ignorance of this NMS thing. Said scary smart 16 year old son started taking Adderall last fall for ADHD, inattentive type. What an incredible difference that has made. Two years ago he had to take Biology over in summer school. Now he’s taking AP Physics. I was the last person to believe that ADHD was a real condition. Now I’m the first to tell people that in cases like my son’s, pharmacology makes an incredible difference. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-significance-of-national-merit-scholar-semifinalist/170877/42 "2003-04-25T17:35:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > \*\*I am surprised at the hostility about getting mail from colleges. \*\* It isn’t hostility as much as it is amusement. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-significance-of-national-merit-scholar-semifinalist/170877/43 "2003-04-25T17:52:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by culture \* > \*\*Another NMF: > > You guys must live on the wrong state or wrong decade. In Texas (at least 20 years ago, yikes I’m old), it got me a full ride 4-year scholarship offer from pretty much every state school [UT, A&M, Tech] and several private schools).\*\* You’re an old man. It doesn’t get nearly that anymore. Instead, the free rides are reserved for jocks who play out there eligibility and get less real education than a typical amoeba. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-significance-of-national-merit-scholar-semifinalist/170877.md?page=2)