<p>they could give it to the 34th percentile if they wanted to. their money. go cry somewhere else. i bet you wouldn’t be complaining if you made nmsf…</p>
<p>monstor344 - You are a freak. All SAT/PSAT high achievers (NSMF) are not all brilliant or vice versa. Yes, cheating is still going on SAT exams. Wake up and look around. Regarding PSAT, I was saying that I should have got 4 more qns right to make it to FL cutoff. I have made -8/-2/-4 in PSAT. Some people will never get this in their head. All they care is PSAT/SAT/ACT etc. I have no shame to take with me. I am proud of what I have accomplished and few reading qns and some grammar questions will not bring me down. I know that I am more qualified than most of the people who will earn the scholarship. I am not jealous of any of you. The sytem works in favor of you. But the rigid and archaic NSMF system put in place will not flex to consider people who excel acadmeically if you do make the cutoff. Wait till 10 years to see the NSMF cut-off scores to climb to 240 in California and then be on my bandwagon when your kids go to school. Rehaul the antiquated garbage.</p>
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Persons in the 99th percentile are normally somewhat bright…</p>
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<p>Going from 4 completely wrong answers to 4 correct answers is quite significant on the PSAT.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately we use standardized testing for undergrad admissions, graduate admissions, and professional admissions. We are left with little choice because of grade inflation. Unfortunately some of this testing is not where it should be, but it’s not for a lack of effort. </p>
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<p>You would be amazed at the number of people who are absolutely, ungodly qualified.</p>
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<p>Nothing would change. The same 240-scoring, researching, graduate-math-class-taking, students are going to win.</p>
<p>They just don’t have the resources to go through everyone 95th percentile and up–that’s 1 out of every 20 people. They choose the 99th percentile. We can understand your frustration–and I doubt I’ll qualify for NMS–but it is their money…</p>
<p>I’m confused as to how you think you are more qualified than the people who actually qualified. The people above the cutoff are all taking APs, have good GPAs, etc., too, they just happen to have done better than you on the test. It’s rude to tell people they’re not qualified for something they earned.</p>
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<p>He’s merely stating that he is more qualified than some who will receive it. Such is a reasonable but irrelevant point, as no system will eliminate the presence of this reality for someone. </p>
<p>In order to present a convincing argument, he would have to provide evidence that the PSAT is inordinately unreliable as an indicator of qualities that National Merit wishes to apply as initial, filtering criteria. Furthermore, to be constructive in effect, he would have to provide a preferable alternative in these respects (i.e. implicitly, proposing an economical system in which objectivity and normalization are principial factors but in which application of ability is demonstrated to a necessarily but minimally subjective degree).</p>
<p>Aww, satacer, that’s…that’s not true, that’s the thing. I missed five this year on PSAT and I…uh, didn’t qualify. lol but I’m not a junior, so, hey.</p>
<p>About this. You really have to take a LOT of things into consideration. The test-taking system isn’t all rigged in your favor. And not everything is as easily fixed as you might think. You really think everyone attending your local community college is a complete dumb(donkey/rear end)? I doubt it. Perhaps the majority, yes, but have you ever considered the fact that several people might have been just like you? Thought they were brilliant and all, but ended up failing their goals and dreams.</p>
<p>You may think that had you gotten a second chance on that day, you could’ve easily landed into the 99.9999(whatever) percentile, but what about everyone else? The stats aren’t fixed in this way; I bet if everyone in America had a chance to redo their test scores…99 percentile would be waay higher. So it’s really the fact that in the end, we NEED these few unfortunate souls who score less than they’re capable of. It’s these careless errors that determine what the bar graphs show. You really think you’re looking at a chart of juniors who did their best on standardized tests? No, there’s tons of people who failed (or think they did) like you. You say you had a “bad test day”. Hm. Have you ever wondered how many people in the laughable 95 percentile did too? Sure, it doesn’t mean they’re stupid…but who cares? It’s ultimately your fault. Being capable of something does NOT equal actually having done that. If it did, then, well…Harvard and Yale would be getting a LOT more students. But no. </p>
<p>Because, like you here, people make mistakes. And mistakes are costly…but I’m pretty sure you knew that before you decided to not sleep/not study/whatever the heck happened night before PSAT.</p>
<p>Point to ponder: GPA is based on tests in classes.</p>
<p>Hey Guys, thanks for all the words of wisdom. It was one heck of a debate. I know when God shuts one door, he opens five for me. I try being spiritual. Who knows, I may end up scoring 2400 in SAT since I am so vexed. LOL!</p>
<p>Honestly, who cares? NMS status is not going to inform your lives in any sort of significant or enduring way. My daughter was not a NMS (at least, I don’t think so–she got a 170+ and 180+, on the successive years’ sittings) and, last week, got a plumb, ED 1 acceptance to one of the most wonderful and selective colleges in the country. She is happy and out celebrating, tonight, after her last final, today.</p>
<p>Her final combined SAT score was 2290–something her PSAT scores would not have predicted, if they’re even a predictor of anything, at all.</p>
<p>I, on the other hand, was a NMS finalist, and I would hazard that even though I have multiple fancy degrees behind me and am imminently going to have a book published, my non-NMS daughter is having a wonderful life–accomplished, focused, charitable, kind, and very beloved. She knows who the heck she is and likes that person without using standardized test scores or GPAs or college acceptances as a barometer for her self-esteem.</p>
<p>Everyone needs to take a chill pill and really, really get that life is short. Do you really want to spend your limited time blogging neurotically and ■■■■■■■■ for some shred of reassurance about who you are and where you’re going??</p>
<p>Just for clarification: When I said before that the PSAT is part of the admissions process, I meant that it “can” be part of it. Some colleges compete for the amount of National Merit Scholars that attend their schools, and because of this the PSAT may become a part of the admissions “game”. </p>
<p>However, holistically your GPA/SAT/ACT/ECs are all obviously much more important than your PSAT score.</p>
<p>Does your PSAT score matter as long as you hit the cutoff? I got a 217 in Illinois, and I am pretty confident that I’ll make semi-finalist… but will this relatively low score hold me back from getting the scholarship?</p>
<p>HIGHreachNoob - no. After you make seminifalist, you get an application to fill out detailing your entire academic portfolio. They require SAT scores to be sent, and they require essays to be written. I don’t think the PSAT scores are used for NMF.</p>
<p>In general, NMF does not mean big, direct scholarship money. However, there are some nice rewards and the OP has a parent who works for a company that sponsors a nice scholarship. Our state, Maryland, has one of the highest cut-off scores for NM and one of my daughter’s friend’s mothers likes to say her son would be a NMF in 47 states. It stinks when you are close.</p>
<p>National Merit Scholar’s are awarded holistically. You apply submitting most of the stuff you mentioned in your rant once you meet the Semifinalist Cutoff. </p>
<p>If you didn’t make the cutoff, you don’t deserve to be a National Merit Scholar, simple as that.</p>
<p>OP, all I can say is that you could score a 2400 on the SAT (and yes, I know people who have scored 200 on the PSAT and gotten a perfect score on the SAT) and no selective college will take you if you display the attitude you have in this thread. The NMSF evaluates applicants wholly on the basis of the PSAT, you’re absolutely right. But so what? They are not claiming they those who qualify are better than those who do not, and they are not trying to construct an intellectually and culturally diverse community, as colleges must. So why does it matter if they’re basing eligibility for scholarships off of test scores? Some organizations will give you a scholarship for being tall or having the last name “Zolp”. PSAT scores hardly matter in college admissions; your transcript, SAT/SATII scores, EC’s, and personality matter a lot more. It’s a holistic evaluation. Right now the best thing you can do is continue to do well in school, seriously work on your attitude, do SAT practice tests when you have some free time, and show genuine interest in following your passions. Good luck.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if this has been mentioned before, since I’m kind of too lazy to read over every single word of this thread, but since the National Merit Foundation is a non-profit organization that gives out free money every year, shouldn’t they be able to decide how they want to select the recipients?</p>
<p>Also, judging “merit” based on GPA, class rank, and so on is not fair because high schools across the nation have different grading standard, different rigor of courseload, and so on. It’s too arbitrary a process. Besides, I’m very happy that NMS are not judged based on AP scores because unfortunately, at my school, very few APs are even offered.</p>
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<p>I think once you hit the cutoff score, your PSAT score mostly ceases to matter anymore. (though I’m not 100% sure.) I thought that whether or not you get a scholarship depends on essays, whether your academic or extracurricular interests correspond to the criteria of certain organizations, whether your parents are employees of a certain company, etc., like Keasbey Nights said.</p>
<p>About 8,000 students each year get money and about 15,000 are recognized as NMF. The NM Corporation itself gives out about 2000 $2500, one-time scholarships and the rest are through corporations and college-sponsored scholarships. The corporate scholarships, which the OP talks about, often are quite generous and are awarded first; then NM Corporation awards its $2500 scholarships considering only students who did not get corporate awards.</p>