<p>I received my scores for the 2012 October PSAT and obtained a 200(63 Critical Reading, 76 Mathematics, 61 Writing Skills), and I was wondering if it was possible for myself to receive a letter of commendation as I am well aware it is not likely to qualify as a semi-finalist and above. I live in Illinois and there is no asterisk next to the score and I know that I am qualified to get this letter but I want to know from previous test takers if this is likely.</p>
<p>You will not hear or know anything official from NM board until late August/September, when they notify GC and schools of their semi-finalists and commended. It’s a long waiting period, unfortunately!</p>
<p>Yeah, the wait is going to nag me here and then :(.</p>
<p>My DS is a NMSF for class of 2013, and he didn’t know for sure that he was a NMSF or commended until September. In the spring, the GC told the group of students (who then became the NMSF and commended students) that they were in the top % in the country, but nothing more until the official. </p>
<p>There will be a thread where parents and students will discuss this ad nauseum for the next 8 - 9 months. Be patient.</p>
<p>If you look at the commendation cutoff scores for the past few years, they have been like 200-202. So you are indeed in for a long wait. But best of luck to you!</p>
<p>Where do you look to find the commendation cutoff scores you’re mentioning for the past few years?</p>
<p>You won’t have to wait until September. NMSC will notify their “50,000 top scorers” in April. If you are notified, you can be sure you will become a Commended student. (All top scorers who do qualify as NMSF become Commended. I agree that an IL student has no chance at NMSF).</p>
<p>The national percentile breakdowns just released suggest that the Commended cut-off will again be 200 for 2012 testers (usually its the top of the 96th %-tile), but do not take my inference as any sort of assurance.</p>
<p>Previous commended cut-offs are posted in the many qualifying score threads from past years that you can find in this forum (like this one: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1379508-official-national-merit-semifinalist-qualifying-score-thread-class-2013-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1379508-official-national-merit-semifinalist-qualifying-score-thread-class-2013-a.html</a>). Briefly: 2011 testers, 200; 2010 testers, 202; 2009 testers, 201; 2008 testers, 200. Unlike the NMSF cut-off scores, the Commended cut-off is nationwide.</p>