Class of 2019 NMSF Qualifying Scores

Eh. That email thing doesn’t help. S19 probably gets 15-20 emails every day anyway.

My daughter saw a big jump in mail last year but missed the cut off by a point so I wouldn’t read too much into the mail thing.

It looks like we’re a pretty good split between 2019’s waiting for answers and 2020’s anticipating next year’s scores. 222 in CT seems insane. That means the lowest possible qualifying verbal score is a 730 to go with a perfect 760 on the Math, not much room for errors.

I realize it’s based on a percentage, so it really shouldn’t make much difference, but reducing the top score to 760 makes that 740 seem less attainable somehow. No more room for the slightly lopsided kids (710V/800M or 800V/620M who would have had a 222 in the past). With those students now out of the mix, yet the SI remains the same or has increased, it makes me wonder if scores as a whole are now higher. Obviously the 760-800 group is now compressed to 760, but someone is replacing those 800/620’s. To be honest, I always felt it was a bit unfair to count verbal twice, and math only once, but at a 222 SI, it hardly makes a difference.

I didn’t realize until very recently that PSAT only went up to 1560… why is that when the SAT goes up to 800?

@Reebtoor , did you get the mail? Just trying to confirm <= 216 for NE

“I know they get The Book it’s something that colleges actually pay for. Granted it doesn’t mean they will make Finalist but kids and parents should have a good idea about that.”

@3scoutsmom yes I know they get The Book. And they use that when students apply who claim to be SF or who contact them for more information. Not sure we’ve seen any indication that The Book is used to send early marketing materials to students and their families. D17 who was, indeed, SF didn’t really receive anything from the usual suspects till after Sept. Pretty sure the consensus a couple years ago was that they are going off College Search more than The Book. Could be wrong about that, however - these colleges never cease to amaze me. Recently learned that they find out who is listing them on Common Ap - before the application is even sent! Last week my son received two major-specific marketing e-mails from a particular school right after he completed that part of the CA. There was no way they would have known what major he has specified other than that something alerts them as soon as you enter it. Unbelievable.

"No more room for the slightly lopsided kids (710V/800M or 800V/620M who would have had a 222 in the past). "

  • Agree. S19 got a 680 in math (he turned it into a 740 for SAT, fortunately). He blew verbal away. But his SI is only 218 which is too low for MN most likely. He'll miss by a point or two unless MN increases this year (then he'll miss by 3). He would have needed a 720 in Math to be "safe".

“I didn’t realize until very recently that PSAT only went up to 1560… why is that when the SAT goes up to 800?”

  • 1520 is the Max. To answer your question, it's because College Board is expecting "average" progress between PSAT and SAT to be about 40 points per section. The two tests are designed to be vertically aligned so that you can measure progress due to advances in your college prep. curriculum. None of this has much relevance for the top portion of the curve :)

@JBStillFlying , as far as the colleges having access to PSAT scores for early marketing materials, my daughter was invited to a special Scholars Invitational this past summer at a college that was solely for NMF contenders by invite only. Somehow, THEY KNOW. We attended and they had a special session on Academic Scholarships for NMFs. Personally, I think the parents are the last ones to find out!

@TXRunningMom - I’m pretty sure there is a checkbox on the PSAT that allows the CB to share (sell) scores to colleges. We had plenty of mailings from elite colleges that used phrasing like, “your test scores indicate you’d be a likely match for our college”.

@Amyd19 Thanks for asking. The big white envelope with a neon green sticker on the front arrived in the mailbox this afternoon. Much rejoicing here in Nebraska. And, anecdotal, D has seen no increase in the emails she gets from colleges. (Some days she gets as few as 4-5 and others 20+.)
@JBStillFlying On the Common App notifying the colleges before the app is even submitted - this makes sense as one college has sent her something (emails & snailmail) almost every day for a week when they’d not sent her anything before she added them to her Common App college list. (Although, I have an account for me to see how things look to a student & how things get sent to recommenders & counselors and that email has not received college mail even though it has colleges selected. It doesn’t have as much filled out as D’s, though, so perhaps it has to get to a certain point before the Common App leaks the emails to the college.)

Congrat’s @Reebtoor!

Thanks @Reebtoor . This means my D19 also qualifies, if <=216 is the cut off for NE. Thanks again for making my
day! :))

@JBStillFlying , as far as the colleges having access to PSAT scores for early marketing materials, my daughter was invited to a special Scholars Invitational this past summer at a college that was solely for NMF contenders by invite only. Somehow, THEY KNOW. We attended and they had a special session on Academic Scholarships for NMFs. Personally, I think the parents are the last ones to find out!”

@TXRunningMom well, that opportunity certainly passed over my daughter a couple years ago! How do you suppose she didn’t make the list, given that she was SF? Or was this special Invitational only for those residing in TX?

The real question would of course be whether every attendee at that invitational made SF.

Both my kids - my D who was SF and my S who will just miss - were invited to the same special things over the course of their junior year of HS. Most of the invitations said stuff like “boy we really love your PSAT score” or some such wording. A lot of this stuff comes right from College Board’s College Search tool. It’s not hard for schools subscribing to that to figure out someone’s approximate SI - especially if they were given subscore information. That’s not the same as having access to “The Book” - or equivalent - early on.

“Although, I have an account for me to see how things look to a student & how things get sent to recommenders & counselors and that email has not received college mail even though it has colleges selected. It doesn’t have as much filled out as D’s, though, so perhaps it has to get to a certain point before the Common App leaks the emails to the college”

@Reebtor - I’m guessing the same. My son’s college apps are almost complete except for those darned essays. One probably has to do more than just list the college, like get through a portion or all of the college supplement. Clearly by the time you complete the section on prospective majors, you end up on their radar.

@JBStillFlying , I’m guessing the special invitation was for Texas residents only. It would be hard to invite 16,000 some students I would think. I obviously don’t know if all attendees made SF but they were hopeful they would make the cut for the scholarship. That was the goal of going to the 2 day program…to learn more about the scholarship/program. Since last year’s cut was 221, maybe they invited 220 and up? or something like that? I don’t know.

Found in “Information about the National Merit Scholarship Competition” August 2018 bulletin:
“To help enhance their educational opportunities, a list of Semifinalists (by high school) will be sent to four-year U.S. colleges and universities.”
It doesn’t say when they send it, but colleges/universities definitely get The List.
Hoping those of you on the edge hear today!

I have a feeling we are not going to hear anything until my D goes back to school on Tuesday.

How do I send a message/email/direct message to someone on this board?

@MzBev87 I think you need a posting history of 10 messages before you can PM someone.

Ok - thanks @3scoutsmom

Sorry in advance for the newbie questions - can someone change their username that was selected at time of signup?