Does anyone have anything OFFICIAL from NMS regarding the Class of 2016 cutoff specifics for Boarding School students? I know that in the past, the cutoff was set by regions - DC and New England being the highest scoring regions. However, there is nothing official this year that I can see online. DC cutoff is 225 and MASS cutoff is 223. So if you are in New England, then the threshold is higher depending on the rule - is it still regional? Or are NE and DC lumped together?
Again, looking for official data for 2016 Finalists, not analysis based on 2015 or 2014 info. The NMS site does not specify the regions considered for Boarding School cutoffs, this year. It would be great if a New England BS parent could share if the cutoff was 225 or 223 for their kid. Thanks!
@suzyQ7 … Your best bet for accurate data is to call NMSC and ask them directly. Since it’s well past their release date for cutoff scores, they should be more than willing to give you the info directly.
Has anyone verified what the SAT cutoff (confirming score) is this year? I thought I read a couple of months ago that several folks had confirmed through CB that it is 1960 again, but not sure if I am remembering clearly. I don’t have the time or the energy to look back through the last two months on this thread.
Hi - so this is actually SuzyQ7, but I have been unable to log into my account for the last few days (clocking “Post Data” loop, no matter what device I used). I have reported via email to college confidential- hopefully they can fix it. ANYWAY-
I spoke to the National Merit Scholarship people (finally) and had an interesting conversation. First of all - they are SUPER secretive about the selection process (who knew) and said that NONE of the index score cutoffs online are official. Every question I asked involved a long hold so the person can check with others on what they can actually tell me.
I asked about what the cutoff score was for this past September’s semi-finalists for boarding school students (specifically day students at a New England boarding school) in New England. After long hold, they could only tell me what the boarding school cutoff would have been this year for students attending a boarding school in my state. They did say that my state was “Boarding School Region 1” but would not tell me all the states that were part of region one. The cutoff score for this year for Region 1 was 225. So I quickly inferred (and mentioned) that that was the highest score this year - attributed to DC students and Internationals, so I said that must mean that New England is included in the DC Mid/Atlantic cutoff. Please Hold. “Sorry, can’t confirm that, but the score was 225 for your New England State.”
I asked “Why so secretive” and the after “Hold Hold please” I got the answer that they don’t want to give away how the winners are selected. OK. Thanks. The person said that this year will be almost impossible to infer based on prior scores because of all the changes. I mentioned how confusing the rules for the contest are, especially this year, with the changes. Silence. They basically want it to be secretive and they don’t want us to know how they decide who gets the scholarship. I’m surprised they didn’t throw out ‘holistic’ in the discussion… LOL
I did a little internet research and there are a lot of articles about how the NMS contest favors the wealthy. So, I’m inferring that they have changed the contest from prior years to expand the East Coast boarding school regions (vs separating out the boarding school regions into New Engand, Mid Atlantic, etc…) to they ALL have to meet the highest scores cutoff, thus reducing the number of ‘wealthy’ kids who win. So, if you are a scholarship kid at a boarding school - too bad -you have to meet the highest threshold, which was 225 last year. 225 out of 240. Not likely for us…
@suzyQ8 What if you go to like a private religious school? Would the cutoff be lower? Also, in terms of what you’re saying, does that mean that the cutoff doesn’t depend on the state you reside in but rather on the type of school you attend? Please elaborate because I’m kinda lost here.
Sorry -this only applies to Boarding Schools. I think the thought is that it would be difficult to calculate cuttoffs for BS boarding school kids if they were part of their home state (since they work directly with the high schools). Students in Private Day schools all reside in that state (at least most - or very close by) so they meet the state cutoffs, not the boarding school cutoffs. This is what I have inferred from these threads, anyway.
no- did you read my post? No one knows. No one will know until next fall. Think about it - how can anyone know if the tests results haven’t even been released? Once released, these scholarship people have to calculate the top 1% of scorers in each state and back into the each state, calculating winners until the get an even distribution (by state) of winners that total about 16,000 top test takers.
@suzyQ8 - a little confused. Are you talking about cutoffs for the class of 2016 or the class of 2017? The semi finalists for the class of 2016 have already been announced.
@arisamp Both. The question I asked the NMS was directly about how they determined the cutoff score for boarding school students in the class of 2016, as I could not find any cutoff information online for students from BS. It will work the same way for 2017 students - if you are in a BS in New England, you have to meet the highest cutoff they have (which we don’t know yet for 2017, but last year the highest was 225 - the DC cutoff).
I’m anxiously waiting on pins and needles for January to come as NMF status would make it possible for me to qualify for the FL Incentive scholarship. Im so nervous because not only do I have a C in geometry freshman year (just final year grade, looked on transcript and it didn’t report semester grades for this class), but sophomore year I enrolled in an online algebra 2 class but did not finish (family and medical issues that have since been resolved). My transcript records a WF (withdrawn-fail), but no percentage grade. My question is, do GCs have to report these WF statuses despite a percentage grade, even if my school is not on a pass-fail system? I went to summer school that year for algebra 2 and made an A in the class, and this also shows up on my transcript, so would this negate the WF? Any feedback would be much appreciated!
Does anybody know the percentiles on the old PSAT for different levels of national merit? I vaguely recall that national merit scholar was top .5%, but I have no clue about finalist, semi finalist, and commended.
This thread is more, um, exciting. But it has more data, for the bored and obsessed. Looks like letters were mailed to schools in very early February, but they use a bulk mail rate, not first class. First letter posted here arrived 2/7. We heard personally from our principal on the 12th ¶.
Can someone start a thread for those who may receive rejection letters in a few weeks to post their stats and amount of Cs or lower (if any) so that NMSFs with Cs be on the lookout in the mail? Hopefully this isn’t a year where 1 or 2 Cs puts you on the chopping block.
This is almost as bad as waiting to see if she made finalist. I bugged the school counselor and finally he gave it to me. No one else in our school system made it. I am wondering if they will announce it after we find out. I thought it was January but if it’s February ugh, the wait!
Is there a list like the book that went out with the semifinalists in it? Thanks!
