<p>National cut-off for NM Commended for 2005 is 202 points on the PSAT per the site that was posted earlier that showed the NMSF cut-offs. Maybe your GC can tell you how to know the names of NMSFs.</p>
<p>Normally there are about twice as many "commended" students as semifinalists. So theoretically, the number included in this group is anywhere from the cutoff for semifinalist, which is somewhere between one-half and one percent of the number of high school seniors in the state . Commended students are usually around the top 1%-4%. The NM never openly publishes results state by state. In fact, the school in Singapore that published the results state by state this year was asked to remove it by NMSC saying it was copyrighted material, and the school complied. That is why it isn't there anymore. The NMSC is very secretive and sensitive about how they arrive at the cutoffs and how many from each state, etc. I have tried for years to figure out how they arrive at the individual quotas for each state. Some states the number went up dramatically from last year..I would be surprised if the numbers of seniors went up that much in the state. It shows how squirrelly and quirky the selection process is. Someone suggested another explanation on why the number isn't consistent. Since the test uses a single cutoff number, a state could theoretically have 100 more qualifiers easily if they had that many people sitting on the "bubble", i.e. one number higher than it and they wouldn't have enough people to meet the quota. So they have to go one number lower which may have a bunch of students sitting on that number. I think that happened in Hawaii, which went up by 9 this year even though they dropped two points to 214. I doubt the senior class population went up 13% from last year. That is the problem with using a single cutoff number like that..there isn't enough differential. If you are looking to differentiate the top one-half percent on single test of 240 maximum you are going to create a situation where a point or two in any direction could cutoff hundreds of students. From state to state there is no consistent pattern of up or down. This year's qualifiers from Hawaii who made the cutoff of 214 wouldn't have come close in 2001 when the cutoff was 218. Tougher test? I doubt it. The NM does provide the state's cutoffs to the counseling offices, but you are not going to easily find that info yourself. Most of time you see the names from the school's publications or websites. Maybe the local paper will publish the names..sometimes they don't.</p>
<p>does anyone know what the cut off is for pennsylvania?? i just took the psat yesterday and i'm nervous about whether or not i'll qualify. my sat tutor thinks i can get finalist if the test goes well, so i'm feeling pressure from that. plust the test didn't go as well as it could have</p>
<p>I've been following this thread today, and realize that I know very little about how the money is given out. My daughter is a semi-finalist in RI, and has already handed in all of her finalist paperwork. What happens now? Her SAT I's were excellent, 2170, and her essay was also. If I read this correctly, all she qualifies for is a $2500 scholarship if she is a merit winner! It appears, if I'm reading this correctly, that although there are many businesses involved, they give money only to employees families? Is this correct? What then, outside of the distinction that being a semi-finalist or finalist hoilds, is this worth in scholarship monies. It appers to be very little. Please help clear this up for me. Thanks.</p>
<p>BJM8, obviously your daughter is going to advance to finalist. If your daughter wants to go to a school that sponsors national merit scholarships, she can get a hefty package from a school on this list that she names her first choice: <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/l_j/secondhome/National_Merit.html%5B/url%5D">http://homepage.mac.com/l_j/secondhome/National_Merit.html</a>. </p>
<p>You can get some scholarship money for being a finalist from some more selective schools as well; most of them offer up to $2,000 a year.</p>
<p>I'm not so knowledgeable about the corporate scholarships, but I'm pretty sure they're reserved for those finalists who are children of employees in companies that sponsor the scholarships. Very unfair :-(.</p>
<p>In my not-so-academically-competitive school system, being a national merit finalist is basically seen as the holy grail of academia, but for those targeting more selective schools, it really doesn't mean much.</p>
<p>The NM cutoffs are set for 2007 in the fall of 2006 (in other words, if your child will be a senior next year & took the PSAT as a junior, statewide cutoffs will be set in the fall of senior year).</p>
<p>In the spring of junior year, if your child scored at least 202 or so, s/he will get a letter from College Board, offering him/her the opportunity to let two colleges know s/he scored highly on the PSAT. If your child scored highly enough to qualify for NMSF, the school will likely notify fall of senior year & give out application forms for qualifiers.</p>
<p>yeah jrpar thanks for posting those scores....i 've been looking all over the place for them. last year i got a 199 as a soph and i just took the psat yesterday (now a junior). last year i took it completely cold, and this year i've done prep work and already started SAT tutoring. do you think my score could get up to a 215?? is it common for people to make a jump that big??</p>
<p>Yes jsullivan89...it is possible to make jumps that big...Ive even heard of people who got over 35 point jumps in psat scores from soph to junior year...but of course those were people who were like studying 2 hours a day for it...</p>
<p>Two of my 3 sons made 24 point jumps from sophmore to junior year. Neither one did any prep or studying. Third son only increased his score by 1 point.</p>
<p>"That Virginia school accepts something like the top one-half to one-percent of applicants from the state into their "public school" program."</p>
<p><em>That school</em> does not accept applications statewide. In fact most applicants are from Fairfax County, although there are some from the surrounding counties. I believe the acceptance rate is about 17%, which is similar to that of most competitive colleges, but yes, it does retain the status of a "public school".</p>
<p>Having attended TJHSST for 3 years myself, it's not necessarily a "brain drain" which I feel is slightly insulting. Not all geniuses get in, in fact, like college admissions, I was often shocked when I heard of brilliant minds not getting in. Many students who worked extremely hard in middle school, pulled off straight A's with great teacher recommendations, yet had average test scores still got in. We're not geeks or brains with no life. Although we do like shouting "pi" when there are 3.14 seconds left at a football game ;)</p>
<p>And for me personally, my PSAT score grossly underestimated my SAT score. You're surprised there aren't more semifinalists? I think about 40% of the class is good enough.</p>
<p>Can anybody tell me why the numbers vary by state? There's a twenty point spread here. When my son took this test, he would have qualified in many states, but missed the cutoff in our state by a couple of points. How does this work?</p>
<p>lkf, the commended cutoff is nationwide; it is the semifinalist cutoff that varies by state. I'm not sure why "they" decided to use that method, but it does ensure that the top 1% (or whatever percentage it is) from each state will achieve semifinalist status. This way, it won't be dominated by students from the northeast. You could possibly find a correlation in the point spread with the overall quality of education in each state. You could possibly find a correlation with the number of students taking the PSAT in each state.</p>
<p>Thanks fireflyscout, that makes sense. Given the numbers and the competitive scores in the northeast, that area would certainly dominate if pure scores were used.</p>
<p>Actually LKF725 that isn't necessarily true. Washington, Oregon, and California also ahve incredibly high scores.</p>
<p>I recently recieved my PSAT scores. I live in Ohio and I'm not looking foward to waiting until december to find out if I made the cutoff. I recieved a 216 overall. I was wondering what people thought my chances are of making the cutoff (possibly from studying past trends, or inside info). One thing that im concerned about is the fact that i averaged 97th percentile on my individual tests. Does this garuntee that i wont make it? and if it does, then y cant everyone just tell from the get-go that they didnt make it? I'm confused and would welcome some advice, thanks</p>
<p>Actually, you don't find out what the official cut-off scores are until fall of your senior year (around August or September). If your score is WAY above your state's prior year cut-off, you probably made it, but otherwise, it's tougher to know. Your counselor may have more info about the likelihood of you being over the cut-off.</p>
<p>considering that the normal california cutoff is 215 or 216 (one of the highest states) I'm sure you will make the cut off for Ohio.</p>
<p>Re the list of cutoffs by state posted earlier in the forum:
It says the numbers are for the 2005 competition. Does that mean those numbers were from students who were seniors one year ago and are already in college? If that is so, then are the numbers out for students who are seniors this year? Does anyone know the number for CT?</p>
<p>Actually, the highest cutoffs are about 222 or so (MD, MA, DC, outside US). The numbers for the 2005 competition means the kids who are currently seniors & took their PSATs in October of their junior year. Here's a repost of higher up on this thread which shows the cut-offs for 2004 & 2005 by state (#6 on this thread). It shows the Ohio & CT cut-offs for those years, as well as all other states.</p>
<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><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=74297%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=74297</a>, #6</p>
<p>does the commended cutoff index vary from year to year as well?</p>