<p>whats the least score on average to even be considered a commended student for merit?</p>
<p>thought it was 2000+</p>
<p>I was 202, got commended</p>
<p>oh right its 200 not 2000 forgot psat :P</p>
<p>I was 216... my state index was 217. :(</p>
<p>whats index? commended or semi?</p>
<p>what state are you in?</p>
<p>PA (take up space here)</p>
<p>jeff: I'm in Texas.</p>
<p>The Selection Index cutoff is for semifinalist. I missed it by a point.</p>
<p>stupid question i should have looked at your location, but i think that it depends on the percentages of scores within your individual state. By this logic, states with more students taking it would have a lower cut off rate or some states may just be smarter making the cut off rate higher...index is your total score</p>
<p>ok, this may sounds like a dumb question but as long as you score a certain score on the PSAT, you can be a national merit winner? how does the entire process work? what are the levels of commendation and what is needed to achieve them?</p>
<p>Yeah, the NY cutoff is over 220. The cutoff is placed at the top half of one percent mark.</p>
<p>last years cutoff number for commendation in new york was 203, semi finalist was 218</p>
<p>national merit winners are all most likely in the top 4% in the nation, 2/3 of that top 4% will recieve commendation (the range in NY last yr was 203-218 for commendation) which is like honorable mention for your excellent scores, semi-finalists score higher and are eligible for scholarship money</p>
<p>anybody have any ideas on what PA's cutoff was? and where do you obtain this info</p>
<p>I believe that there is a single cutoff for commended students around the country. Last year that was anything above a 202. Then each individual state differs on the selection index for semifinalist.</p>
<p>does anyone know the selection index for oregon?</p>
<p>commended is the same throughout the nation, last year it was 202, this year it may go up to 203</p>
<p>Pretty sure PA semifinalist cutoff was 216, might be off by one or two- no source, just remember it from when the scores came out.</p>
<p>As to lollipop's question regarding the entire process, basically if you get above a certain national mark you get commended. If you score above a state level based on percentages (either from last year or the current one, I forget) you get semifinalist. Semifinalists get an application around November and apply to be finalists, providing stats and essay- almost everyone gets finalist, the round is just to weed out people who had a fluke high PSAT not supported by other stats. Then there's around 14k finalists applying for about 8k scholarships- dunno what the app is like, I haven't got it yet. The money isn't that great compared to other scholarships (only about 2000) but it is good for prestige/recognition, and a lot of lower-tier colleges offer full rides if you get finalist or higher.</p>
<p>There are a fair number of errors in this thread, so I'm adding this post even though the thread's been dormant for a while.</p>
<p>See
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=2851954#post2851954%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=2851954#post2851954</a><br>
for details of "by state" Semifinalist cutoffs, including last year's cutoffs.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>