WHAT??? If this is wrong I’m literally going to throw up.
From spot checking this against what has already been reported it looks legit/believable.
The person who posted the list either works for the printing company, or is some rogue National Merit employee having sympathy on us poor people searching for info.
the cutoffs are all so high this year 
I googled “September 2015 NMSQ Guide”.
No matches.
I’m jumping for joy and hoping this isn’t a hoax. Someone tell me this is legit, if so, made it in VA!!
Also from the September 2015 NMSQ Guide:
confirming SAT score required for semifinalists to pass on for 2015-2016 school year is 2250
First post is the list everyone wants? I’m skeptical. Every BS alarm in my librarian is going off.
The scores from post #1235 go along with scores from other states that my daughter’s counselor just told her. He had the list of cut-off scores for all the states. Confirmed 223 for CA (she had 224 – yay!) and also said mentioned a couple other scores including the highest, NJ, at 225.
I don’t think it’s the list everyone wanted… definitely eliminated some kids on this thread. However, that post #1247 seems way out of whack, so I’m now skeptical too.
@cookiestar I’ve never heard of the SAT qualifying score being that high! Seems like that would eliminate a huge number of people.
I call BS on the SAT qualifying score. That would be almost 300 points higher than last year, IIRC.
Can anyone confirm the reported SAT qualifying score? I am unable to verify it. Seems way too high to be legit.
If those two posts are true (which I’ll doubt until I see a source), it would be such a shame for the kids above 2250 who did not qualify in their state.
Post #1252 @mstomper. True dat.
@cookiestar Can you post a link to the resource? I am not able to find the same information you are reporting. Sorry, I tend to be a skeptic, by nature. “Trust, but verify.” 
Out of approx. 16,000 semifinalists, approx. 15,000 will be finalists. I find it hard to believe that only 1000 of the semifinalists are under 2250. No way.
NMSC says there are 16,000 semifinalists this year, and they expect 15,000 to become finalists. A 2250 SAT requirement would knock out way more than 1,000 semifinalists. They also will award about 7,400 scholarships, so almost half of the finalists get one - didn’t realize it was that high a percentage.
I just called NMSC but the offices are closed already. I was hoping to be able to tell you all that post #1247 is not legit. Anyway, that is one question NMSC will answer, so someone can call there on Tuesday to ask what SAT is needed. But for as long as I know, it has 1960, calculated by adding the Reading score, the Math score, and the Writing multiple choice score X 10. In other words, instead of adding in your Writing score, you take out the essay. Use only the Multiple Choice score X 10. (Example: Writing 690 made up of 68 on multiple choice and 9 on essay - don’t add in 690. Instead, add in 680).
It has always been this way, and this is why it probably still is: NMSC goes to huge lengths to include students from each state in proportion to the number of HS grads in the state. If NMSC suddenly made the SAT cutoff 2250, then how many of the WV and WY students, who made NMSF with a 202, or MT at 204, etc., are likely to progress from semifinalist to finalist? Not many. And then the lower PSAT cutoff score states would be underrepresented as Finalists.
@cookiestar, you had your fun. But that was unkind.
Also, jklinge, there hasn’t been a published guide with the 1960 number in previous years–you had to get the number from NMSC. So I call BS on that one as well.