<p>Here is a link to the state by state listings of the National Merit Selection Index for 2005. They also give you the 2004 index as a comparison. It's interesting to see how the state indexes vary and how the numbers have increased since last year.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting the index, momsdream. Seems that in most states, the bar is higher this year than last. Guess that's the trend we can look forward to for the next several years. I shudder to think what the cutoffs will be by the time my high school freshman is in the running! I believe I read somewhere on CC that the Class of 2008 will be the peak. After that the number of boomers' babies declines.</p>
<p>wjb, I had read that the HS class of 2007 (current sophomores including my son) are the largest group, but there's probably not much difference in the numbers over the course of a few years. Our state went up more last year than it ever has. We'll be up in the 220 range by the time he's a junior if the trend continues. Ouch! More and more kids are studying and preparing for these standardized tests.</p>
<p>It is interesting that Virginia has 413 NMSFs with the qualifying score of 219 for 2005. The public magnet school, Thomas Jefferson HS for Science and Technology, in Fairfax County, Virginia with 40% Asian Americans, consistently has the highest absolute number of NMSFs of any school in the nation, with about 150 to 170, out of 400 graduates each year. TJHS has as much as 43% of all the NMSFs in Virginia. </p>
<p>New Hampshire, where the boarding preps, Phillips Exeter Academy, in Exeter, NH and St. Paul's School, in Concord, NH, are located, only had 75 NMSFs with a qualifying score of 215. More than 1/2 of these 75 came from Exeter and St. Paul's School, because these schools consistently have almost 10% of their graduates achieving the NMSF distinction each year. Exeter has about 300 grads and St. Paul's has about 150 grads each year, giving a total of 450 grads for the two schools each year. 8% to 10% of their grads, or 45 each year, are NMSFs.</p>
<p>In Mass., where Phillips Academy, Andover, is located with 300 grads each year and as many as 30 NMSFs among them each year, or about 10% of the graduating class, there were only 333 NMSFs in all of Mass., with the highest qualifying score in the nation of 222. Andover grads represent 9% of all of Massachusett's total of 333. These numbers are considtent year after year.</p>
<p>Students at boarding preps are qualified for the NMSF distinction according to the qualifying score in the state which the boarding prep school is located.</p>
<p>Lowest 15 Semi-Finalist Cut Offs</p>
<p>IA 209 208 212
LA 209 254 217
NM 209 108 92
ID 208 96 72
NB 208 125 87
OK 208 224 162
MT 207 67 56
NV 207 89 57
SD 205 54 26
ND 204 50 16
UT 204 181 49
MS 203 154 21
WY 203 35 10
AR 202 158 16
WV 202 108 9</p>
<p>Over30, my info could well be incorrect. But like your state, our state's cutoff numbers rose this year too. And the absolute number of kids making the cutoff for both NMS and Commended Scholar is down, and seems to be down across the board. I'm kinda missing the mathematics chromosome, but it seems to me that if the absolute number of kids in the pool is increasing year by year (through 2007, 2008, or whenever) then the absolute number of kids meeting the cutoff should increase, too. Not so, however.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>(All 15 are Bush states) <<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>NMSFs are also the highest scorers on the SAT I test, a similar test to the PSAT Qualifying Test for the NMSF.</p>
<p>Is there a direct correlation between the high scorer on the PSAT/SAT I tests and voting for Kerry? </p>
<p>I do not know Kerry's PSAT/SAT I scores, but I do know that John F. Kerry graduated from St. Paul's School, in NH, and his daughter, Vanessa, and his father, were graduates of Andover in Mass., where almost 10% of its grads are NMSFs. Andover's mean SAT I scores for its seniors is 1370, or about 350 points above the mean scores of all the SAT I test takers in the nation. This is also true for St. Paul's School, in NH. So why do the flaming liberals DEMONIZE and DISCREDIT standardized testiing?? Isn't this hypocritical of them??</p>
<p>Bush's SAT I score of 1200 in the 1960s (1270 recentered after 1995) while at Andover was criticized as being too low.</p>
<p>These flaming liberals who demonize standardized testing can't have it both ways. They are hypocrites, if they want it both ways.</p>
<p>Might want to take a close look at Tx.,the original Bush state!! Most of the bottom 15 also improved over the last few years.I do not think you will find that over the end of the last century.</p>
<p>Just because the states with lowest NMS scores went Bush does NOT indicate a correlation between the two. Do good science, not fad science. </p>
<p>And let's not make this a political discussion. It's about the NMS cutoffs.</p>
<p>Look at Delaware's jump in students recognized (both Semis and Commended). They sure have a lot more this year. Is that due to a population bubble or an increase in preparation?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Just because the states with lowest NMS scores went Bush does NOT indicate a correlation between the two. Do good science, not fad science.</p>
<p>And let's not make this a political discussion. It's about the NMS cutoffs.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Does that chart (with cutoffs for 2005) refer to kids who took the PSAT in Oct 2003 or 2004? I'm confused.</p>
<p>The site says "The "2005 Index Cutoff" column indicates the score current seniors needed to earn on the PSAT they took in 2003 as juniors."</p>