I just received the same information about Texas. I suppose my son does qualify. How exciting. Now the decision is whether or not to wait for spring semester grades.
1 Like
For anyone wondering about Arizona, this is the response I received today:
"Thank you for contacting the National Recognition Programs Team. The response to your inquiry is below:
The minimum PSAT score for the National Hispanic Recognition Program, for students from the state of Arizona, is 1090. If you feel your daughter is eligible for a National Recognition Program, we highly encourage your daughter to create a profile and submit an application by Friday, May 28, 2021, 5:00PM PT. Students who self-nominate must submit their test scores and a copy of their current high school transcript.
Thank you,
The National Recognition Programs Team"
1 Like
I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume that reducing the threshold by so much won’t have scholarship consequences. I can’t see any way that the schools who currently more or less equate Recognition Program with National Merit Finalist (Arizona State, Alabama, etc.) for scholarship purposes will continue to do so.
This may end up harming some kids.
3 Likes
The cut off scores have always been quite a bit lower than National Merit. Now they have dropped another 150 or so points. I do not understand why the recognition programs are for the top 10% of students while the National Merit is just the top 1%. That leaves a lot of non-minority students out and makes it more difficult for the highest minority students to set themselves apart.
8 Likes
I mean that’s the cutoff for the Hispanic Program, but the African American one might be different. Idk if it’ll be 250 points higher (which is the worst-case scenario for me and my measly 1330) but it could be higher
You also have to realize that they suspiciously upped the threshold of this scholarship in response to the conditions of this year where an all-time low amount of students took the PSAT. Didn’t you also notice that this year no conditions alternate entry will make National Merit Semifinalist (ASU gives the same scholarships for Semi-Finalists and Finalists) easier to get?
All of these drops in criteria are most likely due to the drop in test-takers this year. In fact, according to compass prep, there was a Whopping 10 THOUSAND drop in test-takers that scored above 1400 this year. And even that year was a historically low year for that threshold
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were actually fewer CBRP receivers this year than last year, as many CBRP winners last year didn’t even know about the program when they received it so I doubt many minorities are taking the test in search of this scholarship (much less taking the PSAT at all)
But you haven’t got an email inviting you either?
For those of you that received email responses regarding cut-off scores for your state… how did you contact them or what email did you use to contact them? I have tried twice with no response. Thanks!
@lupepinto @EsAhoraDeComer @bachstra
Check your spam, that’s where my response was. Here’s the e-mail I used to ask: cbrp@scholarshipamerica.org
1 Like
The Compass Prep figures were for the October 2020 PSAT only. They do not include the January 2021 PSAT. So we still don’t know what the final numbers are. Also, the alternative entry for National Merit did not change the threshold; rather, it just provided a different method of demonstrating it. In the end, while the Selection Index for commended may drop a point or two, that will only equate, at most, to like a 20-point on PSAT score.
In contrast, with CBNRP, they just tripled or quadrupled the category of students who qualify. I don’t doubt that this was well-meaning, but I can’t help but think there will also be adverse consequences.
1 Like
Used the message function (“contact us”) on www.nationalrecognitionprogram.org. They responded in one or two business days.
@franknd I think that your concern about the worth of the CBNRP designation being devaluated is valid, at least for Hispanic recipients.
Back when my son got recognized, I had read articles that led me to believe that NMF represented the top 0.5% of all PSAT/NMSQT takers while NHRP represented the top 2.5% of Hispanic PSAT/NMSQT takers.
Even back then, only a few universities were providing the same level of merit scholarships to NHRP than to NMS. In the engineering field, ASU and University of Kentucky were pretty much the only strong players. In the northeast, no university seemed to care about NHRP.
I am speculating that the College Board is very concerned that a lot of universities are going test optional, because they are going to lose a lot of business as a result. The CBNRP seems in part to be an attempt to keep the College Board relevant, the message being: send us some money and in return we will give you a chance to earn a title that might qualify you for a merit scholarship. If the bar is too high, people are not going to want to play the game because they will not feel they have much chance of winning, so they lowered the bar.
And lowering the bar certainly devaluates the worth of the NHRP designation at least on paper.
On the other hand, it is possible that a lot of NHRP recipients were not very affluent and would have gotten need-based financial assistance anyway in which case the universities might not take a huge financial hit by providing merit scholarships instead of need-based financial assistance.
What would be good to know is if the College Board has made their decision with feedback from universities. Maybe the universities wanted to diversify their student population and were looking for an easy way to do so. The CBNRP certainly makes it easy to do so…
3 Likes
Interesting thoughts, although I’m not sure that the PSAT/NMSQT has much to do with “test optional” college apps. PSAT scores aren’t part of college apps. Also, I don’t think kids even pay to take the PSAT do they, since it’s done in school? I don’t recall ever paying for my kids to take it.
But in the overall I suspect you may be on to something. I’d guess it’s likely that something we aren’t necessarily privy to is driving this decision.
2 Likes
PSAT is free, but it is supposed to be practice for the SAT. Financially you need to bundle them together (as PSAT is free because you are expected to eventually pay for the SAT).
The College Board needs to continue to do whatever it can to promote the (P)SAT. Like when they decided to sign a deal with Khan academy to fight off the competition from ACT.
Note that the message about doing good on the (P)SAT leading to merit scholarship is not subtle. See for example that big box “Practicing on Khan Academy can help you improve your SAT scores and could lead to college scholarships” on Personalized SAT Practice on Khan Academy | SAT Suite of Assessments – The College Board
For further info you might want to read the section “The College Board’s 3 Giant Problems” on Khan Academy SAT Will Never Be Enough - Here’s Why (prepscholar.com)
2 Likes
(just cross-linking the twin thread under Financial Aid & Scholarships to make it easy to jump between the two from the first post)
1 Like
Also linking a post from last year that offers a good starting point for a list of universities worth investigating further regarding potential merit scholarships this year.
1 Like
Uh, but they did include the October numbers tho lol. Please see “Projected October and Jan”. and yes I am aware the threshold for National Merit did not change, but it didn’t need to in order for becoming a semifinalist to become easier. One can take multiple SATs to try and become a NMSF, making it easier than previous years to achieve.
Also, keep in mind that college board made these cutoff changes AFTER the PSAT was completed, they probably didn’t have enough people with that 2.5% cutoff.
I’m confused by this statement… my understanding for National Merit was that it was based only on the PSAT/NMSQT score taken in the fall of the junior year.
@arojm My son actually just received a letter today telling him he met the requirements to enter the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. It also says that from those selected, the semi-finalists and finalists will be selected. So the process hasn’t changed. I’m not sure where you saw that student could take multiple SATs to become a NMSF.
I know this isn’t the proper forum since this post is for CBRP, but I thought I would clarify it since it was brought up.
was that a letter in the mail, or an email? thanks for this info.
1 Like