<p>Have they already announced who receives these? I finished in the 96th percentile, and was under the impression that 95th bpercentile and up got it.</p>
<p>Someone on the parents' board said National Merit has announced that 202 on the PSAT is the cutoff for commended this year. So if you scored 202 or above, you are a Commended Student. I believe that is higher than the 95th percentile, but am not sure just where it falls.</p>
<p>If you got the letter in the spring saying that you were among the top 50,000 juniors on the PSAT, and if you did not make NM semifinalist, you are NM Commended.</p>
<p>Your school actually knows this, but may make the decision not to give you the award until the spring. That's what S's school does: Hands out those awards at the seniors' award ceremony at year's end.</p>
<p>Still, if you meet the criteria that I mentioned, you can include NM Commended on your college apps.</p>
<p>If you're still puzzled about this, just call National Merit and they'll confirm the info. You also can confirm what I said by going to the NM site.</p>
<p>Ugh, I got a 198 :(</p>
<p>last year i got a 201, when the cutoff was 202...sucked a little</p>