<p>The writing hurt my daughter as well. She missed two on reading and got a 76. She got a perfect score on Math and got an 80, but she missed three questions on the writing and got a 68. </p>
<p>When she took practice exams through a test prep company, the essay brought up her writing grade, so I can only hope that it will do the same when she actually takes the test. </p>
<p>She has some really smart kids at her school, but oddly enough they haven’t had any Semi-Finalists since the Class of 2008.</p>
<p>gangsta_ash and others who are discouraged:</p>
<p>Can I say, “No fair beating yourself up for a good, solid score?!” Please refer to hoveringmom’s post on this thread (#75) as well as spursfanmom’s post on this same thread (#78).</p>
<p>The people on CC are no “average sample” of kids. The “data” is WAY skewed in the competitive, high-achieving direction. It can be intimidating to read about so many “successful” people in this one place. But if you define “success” differently and more realistically, and if you remind yourself that test scores and high school “achievements” do NOT “make the man (woman)” or pre-determine success in life, you can remain solidly grounded in your OWN success and accomplishments.</p>
<p>Everybody brings something to the party. (Not to mention that a 197 is no failure anyway! It’s a good solid score.) If I knew you, I’ll bet I could name 10 other things that YOU uniquely bring to the party!</p>
<p>@SimpleLife, thank you for posting the encouragement to those who are beating themselves up.</p>
<p>You’re right, the folks on CollegeConfidential are the highly motivated, highly aware, high-achieving types. It is NOT a representative sample!!</p>
<p>Also… remember what my mother-in-law once said. “We cook…but we are not our cooking.” In other words, your self=esteem is NOT based on your performance. Each one of us is a unique creation, designed by God, and has inestimable worth and value. The measure of a life is MUCH MUCH more than test scores. You’ll be fine, I promise. Pursue wisdom, not knowledge, and relationships, not just ‘friends.’</p>
<p>“How the Heck” we are in the same boat. My son got 220 in VA. I called National Merit Scholarship Corporation to see if they can provide me with the cutoff score in VA for the past years. They said they can only give me with last year’s. They also told me that the cutoff-score usually fluctuates +/- 1 to 3 points. So it was 218 last year if it goes up 3 points, then my son will miss it
I guess we have to wait and see. </p>
<p>Anyone knows what were the cutoff scores for class of 2006, and 2007?</p>
<p>Do you lose more points if you get an “easy” question wrong, than you’d lose if you missed a “hard” question? My DS missed two “Medium” on the Writing section, and got a 73.</p>
<p>I feel sorry for the folks who are browsing this discussion thread, and having to wait until after Christmas to get their scores! DS called me (from the bathroom at school!), to tell us that the scores were coming in 20 minutes, and he was a nervous wreck.</p>
<p>These are semi-finalist cutoffs for VA, and the year refers to the year the test was taken:
2002 219
2003 219
2004 220
2005 220
2006 217
2007 219</p>
<p>So, the junior taking the test in 2006 graduated in 2008.</p>
<p>@uscitizenabroad…it shouldnt matter, 224 makes the cut for international and new jersey, assuming the cutoff doesnt go up by more than a couple points…MA, with historically the highest cutoff, hasnt had a 224 cutoff in several years.</p>
<p>Congrats! (I’m crossing my fingers with a 211 in FL, the cutoff from last year).</p>
<p>D got 225, very happy. Her SAT( she took it a week early) score is less than 2100. Do you think she needs to re-take it for NMF if her ACT is 34?</p>
