<p>Did anyone in New York receive notification of receiving one of these and any idea of what score was required? I understand they are awarded to a percentage of the highest scores in each state.</p>
<p>new york’s usually just a bit shy of 220</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>While it is state proportionate, I do not believe that it is based purely on PSAT scores. </p>
<p>This is what NMSC has to say about how the winners are selected (not very informative)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So I am going to assume that while PSAT scores matter, the selection committee does look at other factors like GPA, essay, recommendations, class rank etc. There is no point in assembling a team of counselors and admission officers if they are going to use a mechanical formula.</p>
<p>If you want to use a rule of thumb, about 1 out 6 get this award. So you could assume that you generally would need to in the top 15% or 20% of your state to be very competitive. Hence if you just made the cut off your chances may not be that high. Though off course if they use a holistic process, they cannot use a formula and have to evaluate each application on its own merits and hence students who just made the cut off should have their application reviewed.</p>
<p>There really is no cutoff score, and the winners seem to be based on aspects of the application other than psats and sats. I received a 2500 scholarship in FL with a 211 PSAT (I barely even qualified for national merit in the first place). My actual SAT was much higher (2270) but still not phenomenal compared with other NMFs.</p>
<p>*new york’s usually just a bit shy of 220 *</p>
<p>That is the NMSF cutoff…that isn’t the benchmark to get the 2500.</p>
<p>There is no cutoff for the 2500.</p>
<p>However, it would be interesting to have a thread where people post if they rec’d the one time 2500 and what their PSAT and SAT were.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m not so sure that’s true, minoafrau.</p>
<p>My son got a 237 PSAT and a 2390 SAT. He did not get one of the $2500 awards. Of course, he might not have been in the very top percentage for our state… we wouldn’t know.</p>
<p>Still, I don’t think they award the $2500 based on cutoff scores.</p>
<p>There was another thread where a student got a 236 in PSAT and did not get the $2500 scholarship.</p>
<p>The $2500 scholarships are not based on cut off scores. Many factors come into play.</p>
<p>First it is state proportionate. That means every state gets some scholarships (a proportion of 2500 scholarships) based on the number of HS students in the state. So a state like Iowa, where more students take ACT than SAT stands to gain (as it is based on total number of HS students, not those who take the PSAT. ) Just pulling some random numbers: Let us say MA has 5% of HS students, but 7% of PSAT takers, they will get only 5% of the scholarships. Let us IA has 1% of HS students but .5% of PSAT takers, they get 1% of the scholarship. Difference may not be that stark as my example, but that weighs against people in some states. Some states are more competitive than others. Hence there will be more emphasis on non PSAT factors.</p>
<p>Second, the selection is holistic, made by a committee of outside HS GC and College Admissions Officers. Corporate Scholarships are decided by NMSC staff but not their own Scholarships. There is no point in getting a committee from outside if they are going to use a mechanical formula. A computer can do it faster and cheaper. A photo shows the committee looking through applications. </p>
<p>Thirdly, the word holistic means that all components of the application are under scrutiny: SAT scores, GPA, class standings, Principal Recommendation, EC’s, Essay. The Essay does not seem very important for getting from NMSF to NMF. My observations are that it does play a part in the final selection process. </p>
<p>The anecdotal evidence of students with low scores getting the scholarship and those with high scores not getting it, shows that there are other criteria. That said, I am going to hypothesize that higher you scores, your chances are better. However, there are no guarantee’s, No student should or can assume that they will be given this scholarship. They are no shoo-ins.</p>
<p>All three of my kids were NMFs. Two of them got the $2,500 scholarship from NMC.</p>
<p>All three had 4.0 GPA. The one who DID NOT get the scholarship had the highest PSAT and SAT scores, is by far the best writer out of the three, and turned out to most probably be the only one going into academic career. So my conclusion is that the selection is random at best.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Rec’d in CA; 234 PSAT and roughly equivalent SAT.</p>
<p>I was rec’d this year.
PSAT: 236
SAT: 2230 and 2300 –> 2370 superscore
State: Arkansas</p>
<p>I agree with mazewanderer–the selection process is almost certainly holistic.</p>
<p>One of my sons received this scholarship this year–PSAT 219, SAT scored differently of course, but higher. His writing skills are excellent. His twin brother’s score was 209, with less depth in his paper, although his SAT scores were comparable to brother’s. I think the paper is what made the difference, because ECs were also comparable. Our school had 7 NMF and two were chosen for the scholarship. BTW, the son without the scholarship is getting a great pkg through his college.</p>
<p>Received the scholarship in CA with a 236 PSAT and 2400 SAT.</p>
<p>Got it in Georgia with a 229 PSAT and 2210 SAT.</p>
<p>This is a late reply but might help someone else later on
I got 230 and same SAT and won the $2500. approximately a dozen people from my school were finalists and many of them had higher SATs than me but no one else won the scholarship</p>
<p>What about Oklahoma Cut Off school?</p>
<p>*What about Oklahoma Cut Off school? *</p>
<p>Do you mean Oklahoma Cut Off Score? As has been pointed out for the $2500 scholarship there is no hard and fast cut off score for each state.</p>
<p>^No like just to get simi finalist</p>
<p>You can see the state cutoff scores here [National</a> Merit Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.collegeplanningsimplified.com/NationalMerit.html]National”>http://www.collegeplanningsimplified.com/NationalMerit.html)</p>
<p>Oklahoma’s cutoff last year was 206. Its my understanding if your score was equal to or better than the cutoff, you were a semifinalist. As you can see the scores change each year. Most do not change much, but sometimes there are some big swings, like as much as a 6 point swing.</p>
<p>^Thanks :)</p>