<p>So what exactly is national merit commendation? One of my friends told me it's a step below the merit scholarship, but I have no idea. Anyone care to enlighten me?</p>
<p>It is explained [url=<a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php#commended]here[/url”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php#commended]here[/url</a>].
It is a indeed a step below National Merit Semifinalist.</p>
<p>As Maxxwell said, it’s a step below. Many top colleges won’t care about it (just like the National Merit Semifinalist) since the award is common among their applicants.</p>
<p>thanks for enlightening me! I appreciate it. You can typically get it if you have a 200+ score, right?</p>
<p>It varies depending on state.</p>
<p>Actually, the commended score is a national cutoff score and it usually 200-202 (it can vary by year, but not by much.) The cutoff scores for NM Semi Finalist are on a state by state basis, with NJ, boarding schools & other NE states being the highest (usually in the 221 range) and states like Wyoming with a sparse population close to the commended cutoff scores. </p>
<p>You can see the cutoff scores by state for this years Semi Finalists and newly named Finalists on this thread to give you an idea of how you stand in your state: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/696125-psat-scores-national-merit-semifinalists-2009-h-s-class-2010-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/696125-psat-scores-national-merit-semifinalists-2009-h-s-class-2010-a.html</a> </p>
<p>See post #1169 in that thread with the cutoffs for almost every state for the current senior class. The cutoffs may bump up or down a point or two for any given state, but at least it gives you a ballpark idea of where you may stand.</p>