<p>My son just made the cutoff in CT, but I too can’t relax until we get the official notification. His school has said nothing as yet.</p>
<p>I hear u waiting parents. Hang in there. and I can’t remember if someone asked on this thread or another one but I think the NMSF paperwork is due in mid-October. Seem to remember reading that several months ago. I’m sure and I certainly hope that once it is official, you can get that answer from the board. they may be willing to tell you now.</p>
<p>It is due on October 9th. I posted a link yesterday.</p>
<p>Just got off the phone with the National Merit Corp. and they will not confirm the cutoff scores posted by FairTest yesterday, they said the cutoff scores were not given to FairTest by National Merit Corp. My daughter in NY has a 222, which is above the cutoff posted by FairTest, and yet I have heard nothing from her school (I have called the principal and he says he has nothing). I am seriously wondering if those cutoffs posted by FairTest are accurate.</p>
<p>Why would you wonder? They match everything else people have confirmed here unless they don’t like New Yorkers. </p>
<p>They don’t seem to like NMSC but not sure who else they don’t like. :p</p>
<p>I wonder because I am perplexed as to how FairTest got these numbers early since National Merit Corp. will not release state cutoffs until tomorrow to individual callers. I am also concerned because national merit corp. did tell me that schools are able to contact individual students regarding making it to semi-finalist, but were told not to make a general announcement through the school until the 11th. It seems odd that a package that was sent out on Aug. 26th would not have made it to the principal’s desk by now. Has anyone else in NY that scored a 219 been notified by their school that they are a semi-finalist?</p>
<p>The reason this thread exists is because the schools are not doing a good job of following NMSC instructions and letting students and parents know who made the cut when they receive mail.</p>
<p>In many cases it may be because schools have not started or they are just going through all the mail piled up. In some rare cases as one parent found out, it is because NMSC did not have address on file.</p>
<p>In 22 hours, everyone is required to tell you anyway.</p>
<p>I contacted NMSC as well and they told me they could not verify the cut off scores that have been posted by Fair Test. I have contacted my daughters school and they will not return a phone call or email. We are in Massachusetts and my daughter scored a 225 but we can not rest easy till it is confirmed one way or another. I do not understand why this process has to be such a mystery. Hopefully we will get confirmation tomorrow.</p>
<p>parent 96- I totally agree with you. I feel like this process is excrutiating for both students and parents, and I don’t know whether to believe my principal when he says he has seen nothing in the mail from National Merit Corp. Maybe some schools are waiting until tomorrow to tell individual students because they don’t want the news spread before the press release date from Nat. Merit. I just think that if the application is due back to national merit on Oct. 9th, they should give the students the information as soon as they get it, especially since many students are also working on college applications for early action. The only consolation is that tomorrow Nat. Merit will confirm individual state cutoffs to callers, I am hoping that the FairTest info is accurate.</p>
<p>So with u, consusny. Hope for the best. My theory on the fairtest is they probably got the info from someone else in the press. it’s plausible the press actually gets the info slightly before the press date so they can publish the info as soon as they are allowed to. or fair test got it from someone else who is sympathetic to their point of view. Certainly once they got the data, given their overall irritation with NM, they’d release it whenever they wanted to and not wait until they has NM’s permission.</p>
<p>Probably principal has the NM mail put into a special pile that he doesn’t look at until the designated date so he can claim truthfully that he’s seen nothing from them…</p>
<p>Every year our school district brushes off parents in this way who attempt to get the info before the sacred date. Every year students are informed on the public release date on which date the local newspaper also runs a blurb listing all the NMSF in the county. They like to do things the way they have been, have a schedule set up for GCs to deal with the paperwork and it is impossible to get them to deviate. It doesn’t matter to them if they are technically ‘allowed’ to inform families earlier or not. They don’t wish to and will not do it. </p>
<p>Thank goodness for CC.</p>
<p>confusny87- yes…only a few more hours and we should be able to get confirmation from NMSC. My son went through this process and I know that an essay is required and it does take some time to complete. If the schools are sitting on the information they certainly do not have the students best interest in mind. They have enough on their plates right now especially if they are applying ED or EA.</p>
<p>Yes on the last point!!!</p>
<p>press release due tomorrow but fair test site info states wise qualifying as follows>
NMSQT/PSAT Qualifying Scores for
High School Class of 2014 National Merit Semifinalists
Alabama 211 Alaska 212 Arizona 214 Arkansas 205 California 223 Colorado 215 Connecticut 221 Delaware 218 Dist. of Columbia 224 Florida 214 Georgia 217 Hawaii 215 Idaho 211 Illinois 216 Indiana 215 Iowa 210 Kansas 216 Kentucky 211 Louisiana 209 Maine 215 Maryland 223 Massachusetts 224 Michigan 210 Minnesota 215 Mississippi 207 Missouri 213 Montana 207 Nebraska 209 Nevada 212 New Hampshire 214 New Jersey 224 New Mexico 210 New York 219 North Carolina 215 North Dakota 204 Ohio 215 Oklahoma 210 Oregon 218 Pennsylvania 217 Rhode Island 216 South Carolina 210 South Dakota 206 Tennessee 212 Texas 219 Utah 208 Vermont 217 Virginia 222 Washington 220 West Virginia 203 Wisconsin 210 Wyoming 203
U.S. Territories 203 Outside U.S. 224</p>
<p>How did fairtest get scores? I am certain there are many sympathizers from any number of schools that would provide a copy anonymously. Again, even schools that have no semifinalists get this proprietary info but are asked to respect the confidentiality agreement they have with NMSC. And again, NMSC definitely allows schools to provide semifinalists their private letters. If one knows their S or D met or eclipsed a cutoff and aren’t hearing of their good fortune, something is wrong. School was inadvertently left out or they aren’t following the detailed directions or they are purposefully misleading.</p>
<p>Reposted for your viewing pleasure :)</p>
<p>See the stickied FAQ thread in this forum for links to lists of previous scores.</p>
<p>After the press-release date in mid-September, qualifying scores will be available by phone from the NMSC. Here is the number to call–the receptionist will give you one “qualifying score” when asked.</p>
<p>National Merit Scholarship Corporation
1560 Sherman Avenue
Suite 200
Evanston, Illinois 60201-4897
Main Telephone: (847) 866-5100
Main Fax: (847) 866-5113</p>
<p><all states="" updated="">
**AL=211<a href=“post%20#872%20%5Bb%5D+2%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**AK=212<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+8%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**AZ=214<a href=“post%20#798,%20per%20HS%20Admin%20%5Bb%5D+2%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**AR=205<a href=“per%20post%20#1041%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**CA=223<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**CO=215<a href=“tweet%20from%20CO%20principal%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**CT=221<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**DE=218<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**DC=224<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**FL=214<a href=“post%20#786,%20per%20GC%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**GA=217<a href=“post%20#943,%20per%20HSCC%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**HI=215<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**ID=211<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**IL=216<a href=“post%20#929,%20per%20GC%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**IN=215<a href=“posts%20#952%20&%20968%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**IA=210<a href=“post%20#783,%20per%20GC%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**KS=216<a href=“post%20#699,%20per%20principal%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**KY=211<a href=“post%20#795%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**LA=209<a href=“post%20#891%20per%20GC%20%5Bb%5DUnchanged%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**ME=215<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+5%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**MD=223<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**MA=224<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**MI=210<a href=“post%20#1012,%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**MN=215<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+2%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**MS=207<a href=“post%20#949,%20per%20GC%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**MO=213<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**MT=207<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**NE=209<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+2%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**NV=212<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**NH=214<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**NJ=224<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**NM=210<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+2%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**NY=219<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**NC=215<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+2%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**ND=204<a href=“per%20post%20#966%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**OH=215<a href=“per%20post%20#696%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**OK=210<a href=“per%20posts%20#689%20&%20#698%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**OR=218<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+5%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**PA=217<a href=“per%20posts%20#706%20&%20#856%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**RI=216<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+5%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**SC=210<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+2%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**SD=206<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+2%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**TN=212<a href=“post%20#917,%20per%20GC%20%5Bb%5D+2%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**TX=219<a href=“per%20post%20#793%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**UT=208<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**VT=217<a href=“per%20post%20#1032%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**VA=222<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+5%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**WA=220<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+4%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**WV=203<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**WI=210<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a>
**WY=203<a href=“posts%20#1115/1134%20%5Bb%5D+3%5B/b%5D”>/b</a></all></p>
<p>5(?) Boarding school regions
**Midwest
IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, OH, TX, WI region=219<a href=“per%20post%20#781”>/b</a></p>
<p>West
AZ, CA, CO, ID, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY region =223</p>
<p>Southeast
AR, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN, WV region =217</p>
<p>New England (?)
CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT region =224</p>
<p>Mid-Atlantic (?)
DE, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA, VA region =224</p>
<p>Leaving three without a definite home:
IL, HI, KY (HI has one boarding school, KY two, IL two)
I am inclined to think, in spite of the news releases, that KY belongs to the Southeast or Midwest region, HI to the West, and IL to the Midwest.</p>
<h2>Of course there is no guarantee that in the future these regions won’t be re-grouped without notice by the NMSC. </h2>
<p>Internationals=224 <a href="+3">b</a>**
This usually is set to be equal to the highest cut-off score among all the individual states.</p>
<p>US Territories=203 <a href="+3">b</a><a href=“Puerto%20Rico,%20Northern%20Mariana%20Islands,%20US%20Virgin%20Islands,%20American%20Samoa,%20Guam%20&%20Minor%20Outlying%20Islands”>/b</a>
This usually is set to be equal to the lowest cut-off score among all the individual states.</p>
<p>Commended (national cutoff) = 203 (+3)
Any person with a score equal to or higher than this cutoff who is not a NMSF receives commended status. This group represents the highest 50,000 scorers. </p>
<hr>
<p>National Achievement
Regions (we are unsure of these regions)
National Achievement Regions
Regions
1: CT, DE, DC, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI ,VT , VA
2: IL, IN, KY, MI, NC, OH, TN, WV, WI
3: Al, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, SC
4: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, IA, KS, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY
5: Boarding schools and internationals </p>
<p>Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 need results
1<=206 in MD (post #835)
2=?
3<=187 in MS (post #875)
4<=196 in IA (post #1144)
5=?
Outstanding participants(National)<=186 (per lowest NASF Cutoff so far)</p>
<p>Finally received a call from the school this morning. The principal said the package had just arrived in the mail. I would like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it is a little hard. Of course, I don’t have much confidence in the accuracy or efficiency of the USPS so there could be great variability in the dates of arrival. My daughter’s score does not add anything to the information about state cut-offs. Many thanks to all who have posted here and shared information.</p>
<p>And a quick google search of the news shows that some of the notifications are starting to slowly seep out onto the web. Congrats to all!</p>
<p>Full coverage
D-99 students named National Merit Scholarship Program 2014 semifinalists
Suburban Life Publications - 6 hours ago
DOWNERS GROVE – The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 59th annual National Merit Scholarship Program this week, including five from Community High School District 99.</p>
<p>Ann Arbor area National Merit Scholarship semifinalists announced
The Ann Arbor News - MLive.com - 4 hours ago
More than 100 students from Washtenaw County have been named a semifinalist in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship program. Nationwide, there are about 16,000 semifinalists for 8,000 scholarships worth $35 million that will be awarded in the spring.</p>
<p>Hoffner a semifinalist for merit scholarship
BlueRidgeNow.com - 5 hours ago
Hendersonville homeschool student Nicole C. Hoffner has been named a 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program semifi nalist. She is one of about 16,000 semifinalists chosen from a pool of 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools. The merit …</p>
<p>Marblehead’s Beck a National Merit semifinalist
Wicked Local - Sep 9, 2013
About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program …</p>
<p>13 local students named National Merit semifinalists
The Altamont Enterprise - 47 minutes ago
Six Guilderland High School students and seven Bethlehem High School students are among the approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 59th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The Guilderland students are: Matthew Gu, Hahn-Sol Kang, Justina …</p>
<p>Confusny, we are also in NY and are also still waiting. If the fairtest info is accurate, DD’s 221 should suffice, but with only that and one other post to confirm the 219 cutoff, it is a little nerve-wracking. Having the cutoff be down 2 points from the historic high in a year when so many states broke their records seems too good to be true, especially when your child sits exactly on NY’s historic record. 
Also, given that it’s been years since we’ve had a NMSF in our district, one worries that the school doesn’t really know how to handle it! </p>
<p>Ah well, hopefully all will become clear tomorrow.</p>
<p>My DS in Vermont was notified today. We expected it based on the reported scores, but it’s still a relief to get the official notification. :)</p>
<p>Scores are definitely high this year! Is 224 a record-high cutoff? I seem to recall people here saying they didn’t think NMSC would allow it ever to go above 223, but maybe I’m mis-remembering.</p>