Does anyone have a link to the booklet that lists the NMSF names by state?
The booklet is not available on line.
Awww. :((
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@ci1718 BLESS ^:)^
@ci1718 I missed that - now there’s only a dot!
Actually, I just want the Tennessee list.
Dookster provided my son’s very unique last name after I private messaged him with my son’s score and KS high school! He is definitely legit!
If that list is right I missed it by 1 point…
Thank you both @Wolverine86 and @3scoutsmom! Both of you were correct, I get to add another 30 points to my score so it’s a 2370! Still a bit bitter that my essay wasn’t all that great, or I’d have been in the running for a perfect score, haha. Thanks again!
Is there a particular reason why cutoffs in certain clusters of the country are very high (MD/DC/VA or CT/NJ/MA)? I somehow made the cut in OH comfortably but so many of my smart friends who have 4.0 and 34+ in ACT and 2340+ in SAT did not make the cut. Do schools and parents spend time and money coaching for PSAT in certain parts of the country? In our school, most of the students were not even aware that it mattered.
Yes, in our area, in Austin Tx. they do prep. This helps not only their PSAT score but also their SAT. There normally is a review course with 15 hours and as many practice tests that they are willing to take. I have seen both of my Ds scores improve up to 30 or 300 points between their first PSAT taken without prep and their final SAT. I do think this is becoming more common in Tx and therefore is driving up the NMSF scores.
We are also in Austin, Tx and I have to say that the SAT prep depends on where your kid goes to school. There are definite pockets that have intense focus on having your kid prep but then also areas where kids and parents are totally oblivious to SAT prep.
I’m wondering if the increase has to do with families moving into Texas from states that have had higher high test scores. Austin has had a huge influx of families from CA because of the high tech draw. Don’t know .
My 2016 D made it with a 229 but I think there will be a lot of disappointed kids at her school. We didn’t buy any SAT prep but she did prep with some other kids and took practice tests and now very grateful that she did that.
@ohiojr First off congratulations on your scores. Your puzzlement over the test results is shared by many. I did a little lookup here including the states you cited.
STATE POP2014 TESTER %POP SF POP/SF TESTER/SF CUTOFF
MD 5.976 43907 0.735% 318 18792 138 221
DC 0.659 4100 0.622 57 11561 72 224
VA 8.326 47825 0.574 390 21349 123 219
CT 3.597 31268 0.869 178 20208 176 220
NJ 8.938 65937 0.738 540 16552 122 224
MA 6.745 47972 0.711 328 20564 146 223
OH 11.594 47724 0.412 618 18761 77 213
CA 38.803 176879 0.456 2027 19143 87 222
NY 19.746 142574 0.722 1012 19512 141 218
TX 26.957 199383 0.740 1353 19924 147 218
More details over average scores per state and state score ranges would be helpful. As such, it looks like a crap shoot looking at these numbers.
I agree with your analysis @goingnutsmom … lots of CA families moving to ATX with the high tech wave who tend to be very competitive. That being said, my daughter is at the cutoff of 220 (not notified yet) but found the SAT not to be her test at all. She did fine but did best on ACT so go figure. I do agree with other posters that its crazy to award scholarships, some potentially full rides, based on a test you take Junior year, when some kids have near perfect SAT scores but did not make the cut on PSAT. But all of these kids will be successful where ever they land.
For those of you looking for the essay prompt, I finally wrestled the PW from my daughter. Here it is:
"To help the reviewers get to know you, describe an experience you have had, a person who has influenced you, or an obstacle you have overcome. Explain why this is meaningful to you. Use your own words and limit your response to the space provided.
Click on the button below and use the text box to prepare your Student Essay. You may copy and paste your essay from a document saved on your local computer, or you may type directly in the text box. (Note: Do not copy and paste text from the body of an e-mail message.) At any time before submitting the application, you may make edits to your Student Essay by clicking on the button below. Be sure to preview your work to make sure that your essay fits in the space provided on the PDF. Any text that does not appear on the PDF will not be read by NMSC’s Selection Committee."
I’m not seeing a word limit but you have to paste into a particular field. Oct. 7 looks to be the final deadline for the application to be submitted by the school.
I’m in VA and go to a highly competitive high school. We take practice PSATs in 9th and 10th grade. We have a SAT club that you can join at school that focuses on some of what @GTAustin talked about but it is voluntary. My school impresses upon us to do well on these tests and they certainly don’t mind touting how well we do, but still do not “make” us prep. Most people take it upon themselves to prepare to make sure they do well. Some in my area take SAT prep classes and some read and work through SAT books, I don’t think there are a lot of kids doing one on one tutoring. Overall few prep for the PSAT but most prep for the SAT. I studied for both and noticed an increase in my scores.
Another Austin family here. I think we have a great local, private test prep option here. I’ve got the feeling that we aren’t the only family on this list that has gone to More Than A Teacher;-) This test prep company markets the two for one approach because the PSAT and SAT are so similar, as @longdog said, prepping for one will increase scores on both.
Another thing to keep in mind is that many of the other high cut off states have a very small population of high school graduates. The number of NMSF is based on the number of high school graduates. If you have a small number of school graduates from that state and many of them are high scoring kids the cut has to go up. DC, NJ and MA all have many elite private schools that I’m sure bring up the their cut off’s.
I also agree that the wave of CA and other transplants, not just to Austin but all over TX as affected the TX cut. The tech sector is really growing in TX. I’ve also notice a significant number of Indian names in the NHS and Mu Alpha Theta clubs at my kids’ school.
I apologize for a simple question, but so much data here is scattered among posts. What is the NMSF rollout schedule? As best I can figure out, NMSC publishes some kind of data on Thursday, Sep 10. And I think I understand that schools and school districts can publish lists of semi-finalists on Wednesday, Sep. 9. Is that correct or am I confusing things?
someone already posted final list of cutoffs - post #1235(back a few pages - page 85 I think). all seem to think this is list is accurate; NM will announce and do press release on Wednesday. Many schools have already notified kids, some have not, but all should by Wednesday. SAT confirming score is most likely still 1960 as it was last year. Final package including essay and teacher rec’s due back to NM by October 7th.
@MidwestMomTo2 Thank you very much for posting essay prompt