<p>I took it last October, and I got something telling me to go online and put in a code and choose a school? It never said semifinalist or commended, or anything... Also, any idea how far 224 (in CA) would get me? So far I've sent my best SAT (better than my PSAT by far) to NMSQT and done the website bit, but that's it.
Can someone please post a list of what letters/notifications mean what?</p>
<p>there is like a notification thing...but that doesn't really mean much so just ignore it. commended/semifinalist are more difficult to get and they matter more. as for your score, use the search feature because there is a thread that lists cutoffs for each state</p>
<p>vgcoder - what year are you in school? If you took the PSAT during your junior year and posted a score of 224, you not only should be commended but are likely a semifinalist as well. All students who score around 200 (top 5% of scores in the country) are commended and notified in the spring of junior year that they are commended. All commended students get to have their names sent to 2 schools saying they are interested in them. This does not have much affect on admissions, but does let schools know that you are a strong scored and are interested in getting more information from them.</p>
<p>If you are a semi-finalist, your school will be notified of this in September and the school should let you know. At that point, there is an application that you have to complete and it is at that point that you have to have your SAT scores sent. </p>
<p>If you took the test as a sophmore, it does not qualify you for NMSQT. You have to take it again as a junior.</p>
<p>I have had 2 kids who became finalists, one in 2002 and the other in 2006. Nothing ever came for them by email but it is possible they are switching over to email notifications this year.</p>
<p>"So far I've sent my best SAT (better than my PSAT by far) to NMSQT and done the website bit, but that's it."</p>
<p>FYI: NMSQT doesn't involve the SAT, but rather, the PSAT. You can only qualify for scholarships (NMSQT) if you have an excellent PSAT score, not SAT. Don't waste your time sending your SAT scores to NMSQT because they'll wonder what you were thinking and then trash your letter because that's not their area or job.</p>
<p>Well, if you make semifinalist, you do in fact have to send them an SAT score.</p>
<p>I checked out their site (sorry, I mean NMSC, not NMSQT).</p>
<p>"In late September, more than two-thirds or about 34,000 of the approximately 50,000 high scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT® receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise."
"In early September, about 16,000 students, or approximately one-third of the 50,000 high scorers, are notified that they have qualified as Semifinalists."
"Beginning in March and continuing to mid-June, NMSC notifies approximately 8,200 Finalists that they have been selected to receive a Merit Scholarship® award."
Then in the PDF it does say that you need to send your SAT scores to them... and if you put all the dates up a year (the PDF is for the 2006 competition), it would seem that my June 2006 SAT will be accepted by them.</p>
<p>Sounds pretty brutal at the end though. Do you grades and EC's affect the outcome much?</p>
<p>wait when are you notified if they are going to reccommend you to two colleges of your choice? </p>
<p>i thought it was april but maybe its september...</p>
<p>god i hope its september. i might still have a chance.</p>
<p>Last year, the highest NMSQT cutoff score (the minimum score that makes you a semifinalist) for any state in the country was 222. I think this cutoff applied to Massachusetts, Maryland, and DC. California's cutoff was not as high. Cutoff scores tend to stay pretty much the same (give or take a few points) from year to year.</p>
<p>So I think you can be pretty sure that you will be a Semifinalist, vgcoder. Your score is probably high enough so that you would be a Semifinalist no matter where you lived.</p>
<p>wow...222. Thanks, Marian.</p>
<p>Oh, cool! What's the cutoff for finalists then?</p>
<p>There is no different PSATcutoff for finalists. Approx 15000 of the 16000 semi-finalists go on to become finalists (if memory serves correctly). The 1000 or so weeded out usually don't have SAT scores to back up their PSAT scores or have a sub-par GPA. 224 with comparable SAT scores and good grades should make it to finalist. The tough part is actually getting a non-corporate, non-school sponsored scholarship. But there are thousands of schools where finalist gets you a good chuck of change in scholarship money and that's where naming your "first choic" school comes into play for NMFS. But you have until spring of your senior year to finalize that choice.</p>
<p>So, what differentiates the finalists from the winners?</p>
<p>And is differentiates the right word? Sounds strange..</p>
<p>I remember choosing UCB for something NMSC related... maybe that was something else.
GPA - 4.00 uw, 4.46 w (highest I could have gotten was 4.66)
SAT - 2360
PSAT - 224
EC's - A few I can really elaborate on, and enough to fill up a list. Not strong here though.</p>
<p>Where would that get me?</p>
<p>This should answer some of your questions.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nationalmerit.org/steps_nmsp.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.nationalmerit.org/steps_nmsp.pdf</a></p>
<p>and for details on the Semifinalist cutoffs by state, see:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=2851954#post2851954%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=2851954#post2851954</a> </p>
<p>Seminfinalist notifications were sent to school principals yesterday. Schedule details in NMSC document at the first blue link in that post.</p>
<p>Prior year cutoffs are in the next blue links in that post.</p>
<p>Good luck to all...</p>