<p>Yes, it went up last year to 202 from 201.</p>
<p>Thanks for your answer HiMom. For most state, the cutoffs have gone up from 2004 to 2005. Is that because the student population grew in those state, and does that mean each year the numbers will go up as population grows?
Also, is the test considered to be the same degree of difficulty from year to year? One of the things I heard about the new SAT is that they made it harder because so many kids, perhaphs as a result of test prep, were getting high scores.</p>
<p>does anyone know how bad the GPA would have to be to keep you out? I got a 3.57 UW/4.0W GPA, AP classes and all that stuff, decent essays, 2160SAT 222PSAT, and a good recommendation. I'm assuming that's good enough to advance me to finalist status, right?</p>
<p>well I got a 215 and I'm a semifinalist in Ohio...the cutoff this year was 215. the cutoff won't go up by more than 2 points a year I think...so you're right on the border, just like I was. good luck!</p>
<p>My son got his Psat scores this week and his GC said that the Psat was easier this year and the cutoff would go up. I'm in Tex and for 2006 the SEMI-FINALIST cutoff was 217 up from 216 the last two years.</p>
<p>Any thoughts about the minimum profile of scores and GPA that gets scholarships?</p>
<p>You're either a finalist or your not. No one cares about the score. Above cutoff you're in the money. Below Nyet. I'd be wary about any maven at this point that predicts which way it's going in your state from last year. Most top schools expect to see a 3.7-3.9 unweighted gpa for scholarship dollars, unless you have another hook.</p>
<p>07Dad, my daughter (in Texas) was named a semifinalist in September. She immediately started receiving scholarship info from several colleges such as A&M, OU, Oklahoma State, UArizona, various colleges in Louisiana, Florida and Alabama, and finally something from UT. It doesn't seem to matter what specific score you made so long as you've got the semifinalist designation. In most cases, the out of state universities waive the out of state fees in addition to offering other financial incentives.</p>
<p>As for the cutoff going up, I would think it unlikely to rise more than 2 points for Texas, so if your son scored 219 or above he should be fine.</p>
<p>I think the score you need to get into the top 1% nationwide is a 215. And well, I got a 214 (98%). Does this mean that there's no way I'll be qualified as a semi-finalist? Like do they only pick from the top 1%? Or does it depend entirely on the state?</p>
<p>I think the cutoff for MI last year was 211? And my counselor said that this year, there are a lot of people from my school who got a score above that. From past experience, do you guys think the cutoff score would increase by more than 3 pts?</p>
<p>Thanks.. I'm really worried.</p>
<p>The national cutoff isn't what matters it is your state cutoff.</p>
<p>Look at post#6. Your counselor should know the cutoffs and why didn't she show you the data set? Is she uniformed perhaps? This is not a mystery.</p>
<p>Michigan 2005 and 2004</p>
<p>MI,210,591,632::::209,557,636,</p>
<p>how do you know what the cutoff scores are exactly?</p>
<p>specifically for texas? where did you get your information?</p>
<p>Quesoaburger: two years ago Texas had a 216 cutoff. (I know because DD was a NMF, and she knew kids just above and below the cutoff.) Last year, Texas went up to 217. Your guess is as good as mine where it will go this year.</p>
<p>Fireflyscout. Were any of the colleges sending scholarship information located in California? I received a private reply to my original post that provided a link to a list of colleges that give full or paritial rides to NMS. There were very few in California. </p>
<p>I'd appreciate any information on NMS finalists who received scholarship info from California schools, public and private. I'd like to compile a list of California colleges. I'll post the information I receive in private replies, as well as what comes in on the thread.</p>
<p>SECOND QUESTION. Several replies have counseled that once you know you made the state cut, the next focus is getting the application sent on time. Has the application content remained the same over the last few years so that previous year's applications include most of what will be required for 2007? If so, is the 2006 application still available on line?</p>
<p>the application is given to the semifinalist by the high school in the early fall. the h.s. receives it from the national merit scholarship corp. it requires an essay (something like educational goals, values, aims or somesuch), and a rec from guidance counselor. App is due back in oct to corp.</p>
<p>07Dad, I don't know that there will be much luck with National Merit and California. Most of the NM scholarship info we have received has been from public colleges, and the UC system has announced that it will no longer offer NM scholarships. Not sure about the CSU system, though.</p>
<p>I was a NMSQT semifinalist with a 223 in PA. My friend who was also had a 215. O btw, big ups to my lil sis and lil bro who got a 240 and 233. :p</p>
<p>what's the deal if you become a finalist?? isn't there something like you have to write an essay?? and do they pick based on the GPAs you put on the test??????
i'm hoping to be a semi-finalist, but i dont' know if i want to be a finalist if it involves so much extra work....</p>
<p>jsullivan89-There seems to be three different concepts here. There are the two concepts of commended and finalist. Those are determined by cutoff scores for each state. "Commended" does not qualify for scholarships. </p>
<p>As I understand it, if you make your state's cutoff for finalistand do nothing more, you do not lose this "title." Basically, you have to go further and provide the application, etc. to be in consideration for the scholarships ($$$).</p>
<p>From comments I've seen, the application process is something like applying for college admission which you will be doing anyway. </p>
<p>Whether it is "worth it" seems to raise two questions: would the $$$ help you if you got a scholarship (they can be from colleges or from businesses) and are you interested in colleges that give NM scholarships. </p>
<p>For example, my son from Texas is looking at Stanford and Berkeley. Neither participates in giving NM scholarships. </p>
<p>Also, scholarship money from any other source (i.e. corporate NM scholarships)than Stanford itself only reduces the "debt" portion of the tuition that Stanford requires the student to carry. The portion of tuition that must be paid based upon the parents' ability to pay is never reduced. </p>
<p>If you are fortunate enough to have ample money for the student portion of tuition then it would not be worth it. If the parents are footing the student's portion of tuition, they might think it is "worth it."</p>
<p>It's true that "once a semifinalist always a semifinalist," and that is quite an honor. Of the more than one million who took the PSAT in their junior year, only about 50,000 make commended in the spring, based on a nationwide cutoff. And of these 50,000, about 16,000 students nationwide make semifinalist in the fall, based on state cutoffs. </p>
<p>Of these 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 will make finalist if they complete the Merit Scholarship application and report their SAT scores to NMSC. (The other 1,000 either got suspended from school, really blew their SATs, failed to file the application etc.) In other words, if you make semi, you can pretty much count on making finalist. The application is not onerous. The school must send a transcript and write a recommendation characterizing the student. The student must list EC's and write an approximately 500-word essay on: "attainments, interests, and goals...Beyond describing activities, awards, and volunteer and paid work, the student's own essay should provide insight into leadership potential, values, interests, plans, and goals."</p>
<p>Offers of financial aid will start being sent to semifinalists in the fall from sponsoring colleges. Finalist designation can be worth about $80,000 in financial aid over 4 years "if" you designate the offering college as your first choice with the National Merit Scholarship Corp. You can also change your first choice up until May 31, but it is better to do so by March 1, because then the finalist will be included in the first group of finalist names referred by NMSC to the first-choice sponsoring institution for consideration.</p>
<p>If the college you plan to attend is not a sponsoring college or business (usually based on parental employment), you are still eligible for a one-time $2500 award from NMSC itself.</p>
<p>Of the 15,000 finalists, about one-half will see some money. About 4,600 get college-sponsored scholarships, which can be as much as $10,000 a year for 4 years. But some of the 200 sponsoring institutions will kick in another $10,000 a year or more, if they so choose. Another 1,100 finalists get corporate-sponsored scholarships. And 2,500 get the one-time $2500 award from NMSC itself. This latter award is what a finalist may get if the college designated as first choice is not a sponsoring institution (most of the top universities & lac's).</p>