I just got my score yesterday for the psat being a 1370 (out of 1520) and online it says I’m in the 99% percentile. Is this enough to be a national merit semifinalist? I thought it was a good score but then I asked my friends what they got and a lot of them were higher, one girl even got a 1510. I really really want this scholarship or at least to be a semifinalist, do you think I have a chance?
@clarebeatrice The answer is probably yes, but if you could provide two additional bits of information your question could be answered with a little more confidence: 1) In what state do you live? 2) What was your NMSC Selection Index score on page 3 of the score report?
Can someone tell me how people are reporting their scores in the 240 range in other threads? Are they converting the numbers by hand? If you got a score of 1370, and when you convert it (divide by 1520, multiply by 240) you get 216, which is good for my state of Florida. It’s interesting how when you get a high score, you can get in the 99% overall, but not in the individual score tests. Most people score extremely high on one subject test, but not on the other, and their score drops in their overall.
@hsbiooo I’m not sure what you mean by people “reporting their scores in the 240 range”. The 2016 Selection Index (SI) scores are proved online and on the printed report, and that’s where people are getting their figures. For 2016, the SI scores are based on a maximum possible score of 228. I suppose you could estimate the 2016 SI score from your PSAT score. In your example: 1370/1520=0.9013*228=205.5. That’s above the expected 2016 Florida SI cutoff of 200 plus/minus 2 points, so it’s likely high enough to reach NMSF status.
My SI score is 206 and I live in MD which probably has a pretty high cutoff 
does anyone know if what a school you go to affects it? I go to my neighborhood school but it’s the best in the county
@clarebeatrice A 206 SI might not be enough since Maryland typically has high cutoff scores. Last year, the cutoff in your state was 221, making it one of the highest in the US. Predictions for MD in the links below are in the range of 208-212. However, you never know since we’re all trying to make predictions with a limited amount of data. We might all be surprised when cutoffs are announced in September, so keep your chin up and hope for the best.
http://blog.prepscholar.com/does-your-psat-score-qualify-for-national-merit
http://blog.prepscholar.com/does-your-psat-score-qualify-for-national-merit