<p>within the past few years, does anyone know what the average cut-off line for being a national merit semifinalist or finalist is?</p>
<p>for example:</p>
<ul>
<li>Jack needs to make a 215 to be a semi-finalist</li>
<li>Jill needs to make a 230 to be a finalist</li>
</ul>
<h2>I've cut-and-pasted this from elsewhere on the CC boards. I am <em>not</em> the original author, so I can't verify the accuracy of these stats.</h2>
<p>2005 Cutoff index, #of semi. finalist, # commended::::2004 cutoff index, # semi, # Commended</p>
<p>AL,210,233,226::::208,247,201,</p>
<p>AK,211,40,51::::210,39,43,</p>
<p>AZ,211,271,339::::212,222,375,</p>
<p>AR,202,158,16,</p>
<p>CA,216,1869,4338::::216,1913,4509,</p>
<p>CO,213,234,448::::211,243,430,</p>
<p>CT,220,184,821::::219,207,904,</p>
<p>DE,220,184,821::::217,40,120,</p>
<p>FL,214,688,1390::::214,690,1457,</p>
<p>GA,217,378,1076::::214,398,904,</p>
<p>HA,216,68,191::::214,73,156,</p>
<p>ID,208,96,72::::204,92,46,</p>
<p>IL,216,694,1752::::214,726,1676,</p>
<p>IN,212,344,577::::211,339,518,</p>
<p>IA,209,208,212::::207,206,179,</p>
<p>KS,214,177,354::::212,191,274,</p>
<p>KE,210,234,231::::210,231,255,</p>
<p>LA,209,254,217::::209,274,266,</p>
<p>ME,214,83,172::::211,79,134,</p>
<p>MD,222,331,1677::::222,325,1486,</p>
<p>MA,222,333,1668::::222,337,1771</p>
<p>MI,210,591,632::::209,557,636,</p>
<p>MN,215,321,746::::212,366,606</p>
<p>MS,203,154,21::::200,165,0,</p>
<p>MO,213,344,532::::212,353,511,</p>
<p>MT,207,67,56::::206,64,58,</p>
<p>NB,208,125,87::::205,125,98,</p>
<p>NV,207,89,57::::204,87,36,</p>
<p>NH,215,75,167::::213,71,150,</p>
<p>NJ,221,480,2170::::221,492,2275,</p>
<p>NM,209,108,92::::208,108,84,</p>
<p>NY,218,955,2901::::218,956,3069,</p>
<p>NC,216,387,955::::213,361,760,</p>
<p>ND,204,50,16::::202,53,10,</p>
<p>OH,214,675,1303::::212,723,1233,</p>
<p>OK,208,224,162::::206,222,141,</p>
<p>OR,214,184,368::::213,176,393,</p>
<p>PA,215,757,1603::::215,722,1840,</p>
<p>RI,211,55,94::::213,61,122,</p>
<p>SC,213,190,354::::211,206,296,</p>
<p>SD,205,54,26::::206,60,35,</p>
<p>TN,216,258,569::::213,273,520</p>
<p>TX,216,1273,2810::::216,1248,2936,</p>
<p>UT,204,181,49::::200,196,0</p>
<p>VA,219,413,1462::::219</p>
<p>VT,213,42,97::::213,41,107,</p>
<p>WA,216,313,853::::214,350,755,</p>
<p>WV,202,108,9::::201,114,8,</p>
<p>WI,211,378,475::::209,373,419,</p>
<p>WY,203,35,10::::200,37,0,</p>
<p>D.C,222,85,215::::222,80,243,</p>
<p>Territories,202,30,3::::200,27,0</p>
<p>Outside US,222,49,337::::222,45,344,</p>
<p>Total semifinalist:</p>
<p>2005: 16,146, Total commended: 35,985</p>
<p>2004: 16,326. Total commended: 35,489.</p>
<p>damn I'm in PA and got a 207....</p>
<p>by the way, do they send you something about NMS or do you have to take first action?</p>
<p>like, I took the PSAT in october, and i'm a junior..... when will I learn whether I'm a semi-finalist or whatever?</p>
<p>My D's school notified kids that are at least commended today. You find out if you're a semifinalist in Sept, though the numbers AKmom posted should give you a general idea as state cutoffs USUALLY only change by a point or two. The National commended cutoff is 203 this year.</p>
<p>Sorry, that should have been ARmom, not AKmom (quite a geographic difference!)</p>
<p>thanks for the help! exactly what i was looking for akmom</p>
<p>thats pretty lame that nj's is so high... i got a freakin 219</p>
<p>haha yeah, i'm from nj and got 220</p>
<p>the cutoff may not be 221, its always between 219 and 222</p>
<p>According to my guidance counselor in NY, you needed a 203 in order to be commended.</p>
<p>If FL's went down just ONE more point, then I would be the happiest person ever. Let's hope for the best!</p>
<p>Wow, I'm in NV and got a 207 in my PSAT. I hope the cutoff goes down a bit this year.</p>
<p>Could someone please explain to this confused parent-what these cutoffs mean regarding semi's and finalists? Once a student has been notified that they are a commended student, does their score determine if they can go further and become a semifinalist? So, if my son, who is from NJ, received a 215, is commended all he can be? thanks</p>
<p>Cailg, take a look at the NM website for a better explanation, but I will give it a try here...</p>
<p>The HS juniors who just received letters from NM are those who made at least 203 on the PSAT in Oct. 2005. 203 is the national cutoff this time and everyone who achieved that score or higher is assured of being NM Commended. </p>
<p>The next level, NM Semifinalist, will be determined on a state-by-state basis with each state having different cutoff scores depending on the number of top-scoring students in that state. We won't know those cutoff scores until September, 2006 when the NM Semi's are announced. </p>
<p>The trend in state cutoff scores from past years is a pretty good indicator, although obviously not written in stone. It is unlikely that the state cutoff score will vary by more than a few points from previous years. Since NJ's cutoff for the past 2 years has been 221, it is improbable (but not impossible!) that your son's score of 215 will make the cutoff for Semi.</p>
<p>My D got a 204 and has not recieved a letter....the school sometimes waits for after the AP tests...</p>
<p>We will see</p>
<p>state-by-state cutoff scores, which will be announced this sept, determine the semifinalists</p>
<p>to be a finalist, a semifin. has to write an essay and give SAT scores and transcript (there might be something else also)</p>
<p>My D will only be commended, which is amazing to me...she did no prep whatsoever...and for her school, its one of the highest scores...</p>
<p>So, we are very pleased...the rest is just frosting...her schools don't give NMF money...so...one less essay to write</p>
<p>My D got her letter today....finally, helped her mood after the test this morning, which she said wasn't hard, but SOOOOO long</p>
<p>
[quote]
My D got her letter today....
[/quote]
I'm glad they finally gave her the letter! Congrats! :)</p>
<p>Thanks it was great to hand her after the two AP this week, and the SAT this morning</p>
<p>She is happy, I think she may be one of only two or three at her school, so she is feeling great!!</p>
<p>for details, see post #202 in this thread:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=74297%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=74297</a> </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>