<p>Anxiousmom</p>
<p>According to Burnthis on the parent board, the CALIFORNIA cutoff is 219 this year. Her son had a 218 and just missed it. Doesn't look good for Texas then - seems like our state's scores are linked.</p>
<p>What do you mean, Texas is posted as 217 according to #227?</p>
<p>Last year's cut-off for Maryland was 222. Has anyone from Maryland been notified of your status as a semifinalist for this year's (2007) competition? If so, what was your score? Thanks!</p>
<p>mollymae - I was just yapping without thinking too hard. (You see I'm hoping without any real hope that the Texas cutoff has dropped 2 points to what it was 3 years ago - because then the cutoff would be 215 and my son would get an automatic scholarship to big public U - but if California went up, then Texas probably did too. They are both booming states with a sizable core of well-educated kids, lots of tech people, etc. Texas scores went 215, 216 - and now probably 217 ) Like I said, I wasn't thinking too hard when I made that comment. Ignore it ;) Okay, anyone from Texas out there with a 216 make it to NMSF? Do I hear 215? Going once? Going twice???</p>
<p>Here's a thought-
Lets all chip in to rent a house in Mississippi, Wyoming, Nevada or somewhere. Then, lets use it as our kids permanent residence address. We'll figure out a way around that pesky HS enrollment part later... Then, all our kids wil be NMSF and will (especially with Wyoming) have a great shot at extra scholarship $$ from schools that want kids from remote states.</p>
<p>Please, don't anyone take offense. I was JK- and it seemed funnier before I typed it out....</p>
<p>Maybe I should change my name to "anxious mom" as well. ~sigh</p>
<p>My daughter got a 219 in Texas and made it. She said that Texas did not change this year and was pretty sure the cutoff was 217.</p>
<p>That is what I have heard as well, that Texas held at 217. If that is the case my son'e 218 will be enough, whew... I hope the school tells us today or it could be a long weekend in more ways than one.
Thank you for your reply.</p>
<p>Mediocreme: You asked "what do principals/counselors have right now."</p>
<p>What they receive from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a large white envelope - in large letters in the lower left corner it says: IMPORTANT - To Be Opened By Principal Only. The school just handed over the whole packet to my daughter. It is postmarked August 21, which is the day the NMSC said they mailed all the NMSF information, but it did not arrive at our school in Kansas until August 29 (seems like a long time to come from Illinois!). My daughter was the only NMSF in her school. Schools who have a number of semifinalists would most likely have a LARGE packet (because this one is fairly thick with just one set of information in it). It only contains a letter to the principal with the name(s) of the semifinalist in the school and "packet(s)" for those semifinalist(s). Also, many schools who seem to do this more often are giving the students copies of the NMSF forms to fill out and then they will type on the actual semi-finalist form provided by NMSC. It is a long,thick tan colored form (three pages connected by perforations) - we will have to figure out a way to get it into a typewriter! Also, there is a fairly short turnaround as to when the information is due back at the school - September 15, as really, most of the information on the form needs to be completed by the school. I hear some schools are even asking for it back by September 8th. The school then needs to have it back to NMSC by October 13.</p>
<p>From information given earlier in this thread, principals will be notified of National Merit Commended students on September 18th. If you go by the information provided by the NMSC, your counselor was incorrect in telling you that "they should of gotten a letter regardless of whether I made it as NMSF or not". They will get a letter, just not until September 18th (or after!).</p>
<p>The next date of interest as provided by a link earlier in this thread is that on November 2, "principals are mailed notification of their 2007 NM Program Semifinalists who have advanced to Finalist standing, and certificates for presentation to them".</p>
<p>Any information on Colorado?</p>
<p>Still hoping to hear anything about Maryland's cut-off.</p>
<p>How about Wisconsin?</p>
<p>We have not received any iformation too in NY? Will 236 PSAT score would have a chance for a NMF in NY or is it going to be higher than that?</p>
<p>What do you after this to qualify for semifianlist or finalist statu? Kid regualr SAT 1 is 800/800/730 and SATs II are 800/800/800</p>
<p>Does anyone else have a problem posting notifications and scores here? Doesn't the letter say don't share with anyone except family until 9/13?</p>
<p>Maryland's cut-off is either 226 or below (last year's was 222). Sorry for not being specific, but all I know is that my friend and I have been alerted as semifinalists with 226 and 228, respectively. Unfortunately, all my other friends have become semifinalists with even higher scores, so that doesn't help in eliminating more numbers as the cut-off.</p>
<p>hellousdad, a 236 will be enough to make semifinalist status in any state until the day a decision is made to raise cut-offs nationwide by 15-20+ points. As for finalist status, the PSAT has no real weighing on it. Finalists are chosen by other stats, such as SATs, extracurriculars, and an essay. But of the 16,000 semifinalists, 15,000 will become finalists. The 1000 left behind are generally people who either a) did not turn in the application on time, b) have large discrepancies between the PSAT and SAT, or c) are convicted criminals.</p>
<p>Thanks Kryptonsa36. Congratulations to you and your friend! I got a 223 but haven't heard anything yet. As you said, last year's score was 222, so I'm hoping Maryland's cut-off doesn't go up by more than one point. Keeping my fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Dad4son: I understand if you feel you should not divulge any information, but since it is anonymous, I don't see how it can hurt. If you know the Michigan cutoff you would be doing me a great favor to tell it. C'mon spill!</p>
<p>Actually, our friend's S has never been accused of ANY dishonesty & the only thing he or his family can think of that kept him from going from NMSF to NMF is that he got one "C" on one class in 1st quarter/semester of senior year. He was fine on all other accounts, including class President, homecoming king, lots of ECs, good test scores, etc., so keeping grades up senior year is also key.
We & S will count our blessings. He scored high enough that he would have made NMSF the year before he was supposed to & then the year that it mattered, his test score dropped, but so did the qualifying score, so he just made it (right above cut-off) & now it seems the qualifying score has risen up 4 points this year!</p>
<p>At this point, it would be nice if my D will score in the commended range when she tests, but who knows?</p>
<p>California is pretty much confirmed 219 (my score for this year).</p>
<p>Well my S got called down to the office today, scared and perplexed he didn't have a clue. You would think that with me on this thing for the past week he would have been paying more attention. Needless to say, they called him down because with a 218 he made NMSF!!!!!!!! I thought for sure you guys could hear me whoopin' it up down here in the lone star state. A big thank you goes out to "rlvj" for all the attention to detail in the summaries. Also, thank you to all the parents who have been down this road before and are sharing their knowledge. I know I will be on this site for many months to come. Congratualtions to all the students and parents for a job well done. From what I can tell even if you missed the cut off in your state you are eligible for alot of money if you have been monitoring this thread. Way to go!!</p>
<p>Mollymae, congrats to your son! :)</p>
<p>I am also in Texas. I scored a few points above 217, so I was hoping that I would be notified soon...but no one at my school has heard anything. I'm starting to get paranoid, lol.</p>