Not saying it’s not an honor but not a big deal for admissions. Admissions is based on all of the things in the application packet like grades, rigor, SAT/ACT, recommendations, essays, extracurriculars. Sure, the students’ names are in the paper and they can put Commended status on their Common App but it won’t move the needle.
I mean, I don’t know. Who’s to say what moves the needle or doesn’t? If it was my kid, I’d have him/her put the commended status down as an academic honor in addition to any others. It’s an accomplishment among many. Maybe it’s not as big of a deal as NMF, but it’s still a big deal in my book. Not many kids at my kids’ hs even make commended, so it’s something to celebrate as far as I’m concerned. These kids do work hard and I’m happy to see they get recognized for their hard work.
If you search for “Saturday” in the College Board’s Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Scores, 2019 document, you will find five notes regarding the Saturday, Oct. 19, test date. The College Board does not explain why it excluded this test date in the report.
I’m a little late to the party on responses to Art’s blog post, but I interpreted it differently than others. In the blog post and subsequent comment replies, he has said:
This all suggests to me that he DOES think cutoffs may trend slightly downward.
To clarify re 212 score, my question is about the College Board saying that is in the 99th percentile. Isn’t NMSF typically top 1% and Commended top 3%? Seems like the low point of last year’s Commended would be the 97th percentile so I’m asking for thoughts on that.
DD got a SI of 220 in TX. She took the Oct 19th test. Crossing fingers!
@threeplustwo , I agree that it’s misleading, but I suspect they are either using old percentiles or maybe using the National score and not the actual user score or something.
My daughter’s says 99 percentile too and we know she’s not in NMSF range but I hope any unknowing kids aren’t getting false hope when they see these percentiles. Odd how the College Board does this.
Anyone else have insight as to why 99 percentile would be listed for @threeplustwo’s score (which equates to a 212 SI)?
^I’d guess it’s the same fake percentile issue that Art Sawyer mentioned in the article. The SAT score reports have the same issue. The National percentile is trumpeted, but National percentiles are based on the original 2015 study prior to the debut of the 2016 Redesign. The User percentile is the one that should matter, but even that one is fake, as the percentile chart is based on the past three years, not the current test-taking group.
I would definitely put commended student on a college application. A lot of commended students have higher scores than semi-finalists based on what state you are in, so if that’s the case, I would list the SI as well.
We are thoroughly confused. DD got a 217. Missed one on Reading, none on writing and 4 on math for a total of 5 incorrect answers. last year on the practice she missed 5 (1 on reading, 1 on writing and 3 on math) and got a 222. Her sister, NMF 2019, missed 5 as well and got a 223. She took the October 16th exam and we don’t understand the disparity. Has anyone else compared their scores/performance from last year in terms of how many questions missed?
@2019odyssey TL;DR: The test this year was “easier.” meaning more kids had excellent “raw” scores, so they “curved” (aka “scaled”) the test to make it “harder” to get a high SI.
Just like when we took an exam in college where half the super smart kids got 50% wrong (hello, Physics 1), the professor “curved” the exam so that 50% was an A . . .
NM “curves” the raw scores and calls that “scaling.”
For NM discussions, we’re generally only discussing the top 1-5% of test takers on this forums. Although all those test takers are “A students” only the top 1% (NMSF/NMF) to 2% (Commended) get NM recognition. So, NMSC always has to impose some sort of curve/scale on the raw results to result in separating the top 1%(ish) (per state) into NMSF/NMF and the top 2%(ish) (nationally) to Commended.
There’s another recent thread here about the “harsh scaling” of this year’s PSAT. The “raw score” (how many they miss) is always converted to a “scaled scores” for each section which then add up to the SI. Check that thread for more insights.
The “scale” is generally calculated to try to create somewhat even year-to-year SI cut offs.
Since NM stuff is based on a set % of top students, an “easier” test will result in a “harsher” curve.
Because if you’ve got more kids missing just 5 (or 4 or 3) questions that year, that doesn’t mean you’ve got more scholarships to hand out (they always have the same number . . . )
DS has always enjoyed STEM competitions and he mentioned that one of the most interesting parts is after the contest when they sit around with friends discussing some of the very difficult questions and how it was solved and what was the answer, etc. He mentioned that the PSAT/SAT are not like this at all as the exams are not hard you just have to try and maintain focus and not make a “silly”.
We have seen kids from various HS that received an A in a course that clearly did not have great mastery of the subject but the HS inflates grades tremendously so I think GPAs are a poor metric to use for admissions, but the same is now true for PSAT/SAT.
To what extent are colleges putting more emphasis on things like scores on other academic tests without such low ceilings like AIME/USAMO, etc? I have read that MIT and some of the top schools request these scores, do you think it will start to filter down to more and more colleges/unis?
@yearstogo who knows. But I do think that what is happening is that the other parts of the application are becoming more and more important - ECs, essays, and especially the recommendations. It’s important for a student to find teachers who can write stellar and personal recs and write them well. It’s the only way the AOs can see the student in the light of an adult who really knows them.
I sincerely doubt the requirement of AIME/AMC/USAMO tests will ever filter down to more colleges/unis. They are meant for math talented students, and most schools/teachers are not equipped to teach maths in such a way that would prepare students for such exams.
You can see how the number of errors translates into scores here (starting on p. 15):
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/psat-nmsqt-understanding-scores.pdf
My kid reported that among the high-achieving group at her school, most students saw a drop in scores from sophomore to junior year (they did the first test date both years). Based on this table, had my kid gotten the same number wrong in the same sections, the SI would have dropped by several points from last year.
@mamaedefamilia : my kid said the same thing. The buzz among her high-achieving friends and classmates is that ‘no one’ scored well, and kids were surprised and disappointed at how low their scores were (all on the Oct. 16th test). This all perfectly squares with Art’s comments and other posts here.
We’re trying to re-assure ourselves that all this means that she will make the cut: she scored right at our state’s 2020 cut off, so as long as the SI doesn’t rise she’s in. But I know that we now have a long waiting game ahead, and don’t think that she can/should market herself as a ‘likely NMSF’ until next year, correct? (This matters for her because she’s also a recruited athlete so is already knee-deep in discussions with coaches).
Having said that, I recognize that it’s a great problem to have, and we’re really proud of her!
Add another to the list of high schools with the high-achieving kids all in disbelief at their lower-than-expected scores. Seems to be a common phenomenon this year.
Congratulations and good luck to all at and above last year’s cutoffs! 
Personally, if your child scored at last year’s cut off, I wouldn’t hesitate to mention that “Jenny is a likely National Merit Semifinalist/Finalist, as her PSAT Selection Index of 2## (raw score of 14## = Math 7## and English 7##) is at last year’s cut off for our state, and she has excellent grades, etc.” or something along those lines. You’re telling the truth, and to those who matter, they’ll know exactly what the scores mean, etc.
Needing to have a dual track college selection process – one for NM; one for no NM – makes a lot more stress and work for your family, but it is what it is. And, as you say, it’s a great problem to have!
@mmom99 : thanks. This is our first time at this rodeo, and boy is the learning curve steep! I had never even heard the words ‘selection index’ until last week, and now I’m an Art Sawyer disciple and optimistically following your NM college selection chatter thread 
Our Facebook Post from 3 years ago just popped up on our timeline. Brings back great memories so I wanted to wish everyone well and let them know Florida schools are the bomb diggity ! Good luck on your journey and let me know if you have any questions about UCF !