$2500 scholarship cut-off scores

[mazewanderer]

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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.

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<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>

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National Merit® $2500 Scholarships
The National Merit $2500 Scholarships are an integral part of the National Merit Scholarship Program because all Finalists compete for these awards, and winners are named in every state and selection unit. A Selection Committee, made up of college admission officers and high school counselors, convenes to select winners of these one-time awards.</p>

<p>…</p>

<p>Working in teams, Selection Committee members evaluate the applications of all Finalists using a holistic review process to select the 2,500 distinguished winners of National Merit $2500 Scholarships.

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<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>