Class of 2020 National Merit Discussion

@whataboutcollege yes, that’s correct. The confirming score is a nationwide standard and does not vary by state. 212 will do it.

@drxxpresso Thank you!

Does anyone have the Massachusetts list… our school seems oblivious although I am sure my son made it based on the released cutoff scores. Plus several surrounding towns had press releases.

@TXRunningMom , hs jr is also prepping for PSAT with goal of NMF. She has used Erica Meltzer’s reading and grammar. She read cover to cover of the both books, but her reading score went down in Aug SAT compared to March SAT when she had not read Erica’s book. She thinks it is because she was trying Erica’s testing technique tips and they did not work for her.

Of note, she took the March SAT (has taken multiple SATs ) and scored 1590 missing one grammar (stars were aligned) . August SAT missed 4 in reading, 1 in grammar, Go figure…

Anyway, she is now really focusing on reading and doing UN Timed to really figure how what strategy to use for what passage. She will put it all together in the next week or two. She too is taking the OCT SAT. Best of luck to your son!

Why is she retaking the SAT after having scored a 1590?

I have the 2020 National Merit lists for New York and Pennsylvania, but for some reason my attempts at uploading the links to this thread have failed. PM me if you want the list.

@chucktaylor1 Can you PM me the Pennsylvania list please?

@chucktaylor1 can you dm me the NY one?

@chucktaylor1 I would love the Pennsylvania list-can’t seem to PM you!

my son did not study broadly, but instead very narrowly.

for example, we looked at his psat (on the college board site) and dug down deep to identify the type of questions he missed. once we knew the type of question he missed, we found every past online psat/sat with those types of questions online/explained answers and he did those questions. and thoroughly read the explanations with those questions. khan academy is a great resource for this.

i think he took another practice psat on khan, and we did the same for it–listing the TYPE of question he was missing and focusing only on those.

i was surprised how many websites/books have sat questions and answers with NO EXPLANATIONS. what good is it to know you missed question number 20 and to know that “c” was the right answer to question 20??? you need to know WHY c was the right answer. khan academy was one of the few resources that explained WHY the answers were correct.

TXrunningmom: I homeschooled my kids through 8th grade, so I was already pretty familiar with how to address any issues they had with questions on practice tests. I think the most important thing to do is, after your child takes a practice test, go over the answers they got wrong and make sure they understand why they got them wrong, as well as why the correct answer was the better choice. So, keep up with the practice tests and make sure your son goes over his incorrect answers on those practice tests. Also, fwiw, I’ve heard the curve for the August SAT this year was brutal. Good luck!

@ChuckTaylor1 Can you please send me the NY list via PM? Thank you.

Can you please PM me the list?

oh sorry the pennsylvania list just to clarify

So how long is too long to wait for a school to contact your child regarding their semifinalist status. I’m not out to make a negative name for myself or my son but I feel like this is getting beyond acceptable. Especially considering there is a deadline for the NM Finalist Application.

@flofam At this point I will contact the school and ask. If they still don’t give you any information, then I would contact NM directly.

@flofam meant to say I would contact the school directly.

Yesterday, I posted a message that I have the NY and PA lists. Several people have posted that they cannot PM me. I’ve sent out ten PM’s to people requesting the info, but I’m thinking that CC has blocked me from sending and receiving PM’s, and I don’t know why. As such, I cannot share my lists unless I get your email address. Since CC is unlikely to allow me to post my email address publicly, you’ll have to figure out how to send a direct email to my Gmail account, which uses the same user name that I use for CC, followed by the usual @gmail.com. I hope that gives you enough info to figure out how to send an email to me.

I’ve got the Charleston SC list and was curious about the overall SC list, anyone have a link?

@chucktaylor1
Or they can PM me as I have the PA and NY lists as well.