<p>so its 202? ouch- i got a 201! oh well, my score went up 30 points from soph year, so i feel good. i never expected to get anywhere near as high as i did. thanks for all the replies.</p>
<p>Argh, I got a 200. m73/v57/w70, took the march sat and got m740/v670/w590, 2000 again, except, a huge change in verbal. if only i had done that verbal on the psats.</p>
<p>can anyone confirm the cut off's definately 202?</p>
<p>the cutoff is definitely 202. the director is guidance in my school showed me a sheet w/ that number on it. i think it was from college board or national merit.</p>
<p>Okay, having gone through the utter hell that is waiting for National Merit to get through toying with you, here's what I know:</p>
<p>-There is no set number for the commended student cutoff; they take the top 50,000 in the nation (it's national) and send you letters. Usually it's between 200 and 215--sounds like 202 this year. You find this out around the end of your junior year (now-ish). You then have the option of reporting this information to two colleges, but this won't get you any scholarship money or anything.
-From those 50,000, they select 16,000 semifinalists on a state allocation basis. This letter comes in late August before your senior year.
-After you complete the application for the program, they select 15,000 students as finalists. I can't tell if this is national or state basis, but you get the letter in mid February. If you're a finalist, then you're eligible for scholarships at participating colleges, but you can only pick one.</p>
<p>From there, it gets really complicated and I don't understand/care anymore. So if you have any questions, I can type up what's in the letters they sent me or answer it. Just ask =)</p>
<p>if the commended cutoff went from 200 (last year) to 202 this year, I fear the semifinalist cutoffs will rise as well. The following is a repost of cutoffs from last year and the previous year (ie, not current year):</p>
<p>Following are the qualifying indices for 2005 National Merit Program (Juniors who took PSAT in 2003). The cutoff index for commended students was 200. About 1.33 million students took the test in 2005 and 2004. </p>
<p>2005 Cutoff index, #of semi. finalist, # commended::::2004 cutoff index, # semi, # Commended </p>
<p>AL,210,233,226::::208,247,201,
AK,211,40,51::::210,39,43,
AZ,211,271,339::::212,222,375,
AR,202,158,16, </p>
<p>CA,216,1869,4338::::216,1913,4509,
CO,213,234,448::::211,243,430,
CT,220,184,821::::219,207,904, </p>
<p>DE,220,184,821::::217,40,120, </p>
<p>FL,214,688,1390::::214,690,1457,
GA,217,378,1076::::214,398,904,
HA,216,68,191::::214,73,156, </p>
<p>ID,208,96,72::::204,92,46,
IL,216,694,1752::::214,726,1676,
IN,212,344,577::::211,339,518,
IA,209,208,212::::207,206,179, </p>
<p>KS,214,177,354::::212,191,274,
KE,210,234,231::::210,231,255, </p>
<p>LA,209,254,217::::209,274,266,
ME,214,83,172::::211,79,134,
MD,222,331,1677::::222,325,1486,
MA,222,333,1668::::222,337,1771
MI,210,591,632::::209,557,636,
MN,215,321,746::::212,366,606
MS,203,154,21::::200,165,0,
MO,213,344,532::::212,353,511,
MT,207,67,56::::206,64,58, </p>
<p>NB,208,125,87::::205,125,98,
NV,207,89,57::::204,87,36,
NH,215,75,167::::213,71,150,
NJ,221,480,2170::::221,492,2275,
NM,209,108,92::::208,108,84,
NY,218,955,2901::::218,956,3069,
NC,216,387,955::::213,361,760,
ND,204,50,16::::202,53,10, </p>
<p>OH,214,675,1303::::212,723,1233,
OK,208,224,162::::206,222,141,
OR,214,184,368::::213,176,393, </p>
<p>PA,215,757,1603::::215,722,1840,
RI,211,55,94::::213,61,122,
SC,213,190,354::::211,206,296,
SD,205,54,26::::206,60,35, </p>
<p>TN,216,258,569::::213,273,520
TX,216,1273,2810::::216,1248,2936,
UT,204,181,49::::200,196,0
VA,219,413,1462::::219
VT,213,42,97::::213,41,107, </p>
<p>WA,216,313,853::::214,350,755,
WV,202,108,9::::201,114,8,
WI,211,378,475::::209,373,419,
WY,203,35,10::::200,37,0, </p>
<p>D.C,222,85,215::::222,80,243,
Territories,202,30,3::::200,27,0
Outside US,222,49,337::::222,45,344, </p>
<p>Total semifinalist:
2005: 16,146, Total commended: 35,985
2004: 16,326. Total commended: 35,489.</p>