International PSAT cutoff

Test Preparation
1

<p>I just read that PSAT international cutoff in 2008 was 221. Why on earth is this so high? Higher than most other states? Is this '221' correct?</p>

2

<p>I would imagine that the people who take the PSAT internationally are students that are interested in studying in America, which means that they should be pretty smart.</p>

3

<p>^^ thats not a valid reason. </p>

<p>let me tell you why.</p>

<p>all these cutoff scores are selected based on the percentile of students achieving a certain score ( which, we obviously dont know of). the ones for each individual state are selected in the same manner. for ex, the cutoff score of california is higher than that of north dakota because the average score is more in cali. now, if the population increases in a state, then the score is very likely to rise as there are many more students who will achieve a higher score.</p>

<p>now take international. a hell load of more students than of an individual state. not only that, but this section includes all the countries except N. A., pretty much the whole world. as the competition would be high, the avg score would also be high, resulting in a higher cutoff score.</p>

<p>i may have digresssed somewhat. but this is what i think. i had this question last year when i received my PSAT score (im an international student).</p>

4

<p>Thank you, both.</p>

5

<p>Only US citizens or Permanent Residents can qualify for NMS. The international pool are from those Americans that are reside abroad. These are not international students.</p>

6

<p>"Only US citizens or Permanent Residents can qualify for NMS. The international pool are from those Americans that are reside abroad. These are not international students. "</p>

<p>Yeah, right, that had slipped my mind! So, we are concluding that American students living abroad do that well?!</p>

7

<p>Most Americans, not all, living abroad are from relatively priviledged backgrounds. The students are children of diplomats, businessmen, etc. They are in general high achievers, relatively speaking.</p>

8

<p>Makes sense…Thanks, Christian2.</p>