Class of 2022 National Merit Discussion - Scores Release

That is a big change, wow. How close is your kid’s score to the previous cutoff? You could try to look at another state’s past cutoffs - one similar in size and location (not coastal) that has required the test in the past. But overall you have the toughest wait, the most uncertainty!!

The highest it’s been is 219 and he has 221. I’m pretty confident, but will feel much better when we hear for sure.

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He should be fine. 2 points is a lot, but I can understand why you would want to see it in writing.

Do you know how the number of test takers compares to the previous year? Was there an online option last year? Did those that studied online still have to come and take PSAT in person?

Oh I definitely think you will be fine but I completely understand you wanting confirmation, of course! Do you have a relationship with the principal such that they will let you know right away? If not, you can always call NMSC directly. If they won’t tell you at that time, they will tell you when they will tell you. (great sentence! :))

And Michigan was 216 last year, so it would be a big jump!

No idea on how many test takers or where to look to find that. I believe kids who were in online school could opt out of the testing.

I don’t have that with the principal, but am friends with his assistant and neighbors with the counseling secretary. The school had a NMSF last year for the first time, and I am glad we aren’t the first! Just looked it up and it was publicly announced Sept 9, so that’s not bad.

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…double posted…

Yes, the variances in the number of students taking the test will have a big impact and is somewhat unpredictable. Places like CA and NY (especially with the above data point) heavily affected by COVID may indicate a larger drop (reflected in Art’s prediction). Local changes like MI noted above wouldn’t be widely known so are hard to predict.

Though I suspect that students who would score highly to qualify probably would have paid to take the test. Mandated testing may have added a lot of students, but maybe not qualifiers. This is where the difference between a qualifying percentage and a qualifying number shows.

Scores have leaked as early as Aug. 23 and as late as early Sept., so that date, along with actual cutoffs, is certainly uncertain.

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It worked really well for us this year! We were going to have him take it and pay, but it would have been after a football game (band) and he would have to miss a band competition. Plus, I saved $20 :). A friend of mine has a junior hoping to qualify and he’ll miss a band comp for it. We are back to the Saturday date.

There are a lot of schools that offer it to everyone and on the weekday day. I wish ours did that.

We are from CA and our school and district did not offer the PSAT last school year. We tried other schools and districts but were turned away for safety issues and/or lack of space. We registered several times to take the SAT and always got cancelled, up until the June administration. We decided to drive a few hours to take the June SAT and we’re glad we did. We computed our child’s SI to be 226, which hopefully is enough. NMSC has confirmed getting the score but we’re wondering if the alternate entry applicants who have submitted scores will be included in the notification in September, given the October deadline for score submissions. Thoughts?

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Congratulations on a great SI. Good luck!

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How do you get NMSC to confirm that they have received the SAT scores ? Our child also filled the alternate entry form based on SAT score.

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You can call them and ask. They are very nice and helpful in my experience.

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Any predictions for what the cutoff will be for New York?

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Yikes, I hadn’t considered we’d have to wait until October for AE applicants! Really hoping they won’t make us wait that long :crazy_face:

I called NMSC and they said that for AE applicants for which they have received scores, semifinalists will be notified in September.

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read somewhere last year cutoff scores were released on August 23rd. Hopefully we will be start hearing from early next week then.

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Any news yet on the Merit scholarship semifinalist cutoff for the different states?

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Hoping that Georgia cutoff will not go higher than 221. :slight_smile:

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Word is that confirmation letters, containing cutoff scores, will be sent to school principals (which includes homeschooling parents) tomorrow.

Assuming they still use snail mail, it will be 1-3 days in the mail and a couple of days to compile - I suspect Collegeprep will have a table of qualifying scores by Monday at the latest. Possibly as soon as, at least partial, by Friday/Saturday.

Official release notification on Sept.15.

Late AE scores will be notified as scores are received. AE does not affect the cutoffs, so there’s no need to wait until the mid-Oct. deadline.

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