Hope you win the lottery @barfly! My CC addiction as be come extreme! I’m sure my kids would qualify on both counts!
DH is wondering if there is a 12 step program for CCer’s!
@Barfly I agree with you “Generally, if you’re going to miss a couple questions, best to miss them in CR and not Math” D got 223 in PSAT and missed 1 math question (76 in math). I can’t remember how many she missed in CR and writing. She missed a total of 3 questions (all in math) in SAT and ended up with 2290 (800 W, 800 CR, 690 M). She is not willing to retake the whole test again. In another thread, some people mentioned that her SAT is not strong enough for selective schools because it is not 2300+. Really? Over-reliance on standardized tests is getting out of hand!! >:P
Does anyone know if nm only looks at final or semester grades when considering semifinalists for finalist status?
On the Nov 2015 SAT missing one math question brought your math score down 50 points. Still haven’t been able to let go of that one!
@3scoutsmom Yes. Happened to DS - 790 to 740.
@Barfly, when you win the lottery, make a scholarship for kids that missed the NMSF cutoff by one or two points!!! 8-|
@Icgusa Not sure what you mean by the final grade. D’s semester grades are her final grades that end up in her transcript. Do you mean final exam? In order to become a finalist you should have mostly As and Bs. That means maybe one C but no more.
I’m pretty sure they uses the grades to “fine tune” the numbers for each state. As I understand it, the GC’s report the grades on a form they don’t actually send a transcript. Perhaps a homeschool parent can comment?
@lcgusa – you mean mid-term grades?
Anyone from Georgia get news? Our GC hinted that 216 was not good enough this year but I’m not sure if that was fact or educated guess. I would assume she would know but principal is a real rule-follower so maybe not? (Clearly grasping at straws here) The way scores are going I would think it’s going to be 217-218. So close…
D was told by GC today that Idaho cutoff is 208. She has 207. Major. Bummer.
@MrsBAA I mean semester grades, as in those that take into account the grades from two quarters and a midterm, versus final grades, which take into account grades from all four quarters and a midterm and final. I am asking this because I have 2 “C” semester grades from freshman year but only 1 “C” final grade from freshmen year, so I am worried that those semester grades would preclude me from moving on to finalist status.
I have a more general question about cutoff scores. How do they determine the state cut offs? Do they decide a percent (ex. 5%) and just select the top 5% of PSAT scores? if it is that way does anyone know that percentage?
@lcgusa Someone posted earlier about the information GCs need to submit, and I believe it was final grades for each HS year for each class taken.
A friend in TN made semi-finalist with a 213. Confirmed by principal/head master. 
@MrsBAA I hope you’re right! If GCs only submit final grades on a transcript, then I should be ok.
I know it won’t help much, but 221 was good enough in Illinois.
@VaishS No mention in the National Merit Annual Report. They simply say 50,000 high scorers were picked out of the entire pool of eligible PSAT scores but no mention whether that is on a national or state level.
On closer look, California has twice as many semifinalists as New York. Does that mean the scores are higher in CA vs NY? Many questions with no answers.
How do you people in the northern states know already? School hasn’t started yet.