<p>I recently found out that I've qualified for National Merit status, and I could use some advice. I was quite sick on PSAT day (I missed two days of school beforehand, and only came in because of the test) and scored a 201. Though it's not an awesome score, I'm just grateful that I (barely) made the cut! </p>
<p>I made a 2210 on the March SAT and overall did better in all the sections. So, I'm wondering:</p>
<p>*do the 2 colleges you contact about National Merit see your scores?
*could the breakdown of my PSAT score/discrepancy between PSAT and SAT scores potentially hurt me?</p>
<p>Unless you’re in one of the few states that have low semi-finalist scores, a PSAT score of 201 would be Commended status. It’s right at the cutoff. That means you are in the top 3% of the scores. Colleges buy lists of names for recruiting but they don’t see the PSAT scores. The PSAT scores are not part of any college application I’ve seen. Your high school may or may not put them on the official transcript, but I don’t think it will make any difference.</p>
<p>Don’t spend any time on deciding which two colleges to contact. It doesn’t make any difference to competitive colleges. (If it’s a less competitive college, your scores are already a good basis for admission.) They want to see a full application. Since the top colleges have low very admission rates these days, your name is just added to their mailing list for brochures and an application.</p>
<p>Unless you’re a National Merit Semifinalist/Finalist, there generally aren’t merit scholarships specifically for Commended status. However, a SAT score of 2210 is in the top 1% of all scores and is an outstanding score. Congratulations! For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t take the SAT again with this score.</p>
<p>Good luck on your college search!</p>