<p>I'm a junior in high school and I'll be taking the psat in October. I'm still uncertain about the national merit scholarship, like I know that you can either qualify as commended or semifinalist, and then a portion of the semifinalists will qualify as finalists. But how high of a score do you need to get to be a semifinalist? Is it like at least the 98th percentile? And what are the cutoff scores for each state used for? Thanks.</p>
<p>The cutoff scores vary yearly. A good estimate of what you would need for next year in order to become a semifinalist is to add one or two points to this year's cutoff (see thread under Financial Aid). The commended cutoff (which is national and not by state) tends to either stay the same or go up one or two points. </p>
<p>For example, here is what it would look like in Ohio:</p>
<pre><code> Semifinalist cut-off Commended
</code></pre>
<p>2004 212 200
2005 214 201
2006 215 202
2007 215 203 (2007 is this year's program)</p>
<p>You will be taking the PSAT for thr 2008 program. Please keep in mind that sometimes the cutoffs can go up as much as 5 points for a state. The cutoff can go up or down, and you really cannot bank on any certain number.</p>
<p>any idea what the commended cutoff is going to be for this year? 203-204?</p>
<p>203 is the rumor---see my last post.</p>