Now that the scores have been released. How long before they notify the kids that have met the qualification for National Merit.
Looks like next September.
This is what is stated on the score report: “If your Selection Index places you among the 50,000 high scorers who qualify for National Merit Scholarship Program recognition, you will be notified next September.”
I just read that the cutoffs for the selection index to be a semi-finalist will be lower this year, using this new psat. Anything definitive on that? Also, I read that those meeting the cutoff will find out much sooner than September (maybe April) because they get chance to apply to be a finalist. ???
I would be so helpful if they can find out sooner.
Finally joined here because of this thread. Thanks for starting it and having such great info. I agree that having to wait until September would be horrible. Hoping for my sanity and daughter’s nerves, they are notified earlier.
@schmonstar I really find it funny when kids these days think money grows on trees. $2500 is a lot of money for probably 85% of students’ parents. You don’t work, so you don’t realize how hard it is to earn that kind of money after paying mortgage, utility, etc. Every little penny counts when you’re working to college. And hey, saying “I’m a National Merit Scholar” (even if you’re only commended and not a semi-finalist) really boosts your application. So you get to go to the school you want to and you get to pay a little less. A school with a $50,000 tuition may make $2500 look like nothing, but trust me, it’s a lot of money, and it really helps.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe anyone will learn NMSF cut-off scores until late Aug (best case) or early Sept 2016. However, there are some crackerjack CCers who make it a hobby to predict NMSF state cut-offs and last year there was one poster who was right on the money for many states, though thankfully not MINE. I can’t remember the poster’s screen name off-hand, but I will see if I can find it and “summon” him via a CC post. He was fantastic and I bet he will rise to the occasion of this new PSAT scoring cluster.
It won’t be so easy to predict scores this year with the new scoring system. I think you’re right though that some diehards will give it a shot.
University of Rochester, an excellent University not well known outside the East coast, offers some $25,000/year scholarships to NMFs! Well worth having!
check this score prediction out…
http://collegeadmissions.testmasters.com/psat-scores-cut-national-merit-2016/
Just an invitation to parents of Class of 2017. We’d love to have you stop by the parents thread and introduce yourselves if you aren’t already there:
Sometimes we even talk about things other than test scores. 
OP here. I loved reading everyone’s comments. Now that test scores are back, it looks like my daughter will make NMF, but the uncertainty, and the delay in receiving scores, sure didn’t help her stress levels. Good luck to all.
Not so fast. The step is to make the cutoff to be a NMSF, then you have to do all the stuff required (teacher recs and essay) and submit to be selected for NMF.
I’m a junior from Kansas, and I just got my score back from the new PSAT. I got a 1420 with an SI of 206. Do you think this is good enough to be a semifinalist? Do they base it off my SI of 206 or the 1420? I missed 1 problem in math, 6 in reading, and 10 in writing. I got a 38 in math, a 33 in reading, and a 32 in writing.
@oxphs Last year’s KS Selection Index cutoff was 213 (out of 240). Based on this year’s maximum possible PSAT score of 228, which is 95% of last year’s max, the cutoff for KS should drop to 95% of 213, or 202, plus/minus a couple of points as a margin of error. In my opinion, your 206 SI score is probably enough to get you to NMSF status. Time will tell, but you won’t know for sure until September when NMSC announces the semifinalist names.
Okay, so as I understand it, California’s cutoff score will be around 210-213, down 5% from last year’s 223 due to the drop in the total from 240 to 228. When I first saw that last year’s score was 223, I was bummed (I scored a 216). However, it now appears that I will most likely qualify as a National Merit Semifinalist. Am I correct in assuming this?
Also, could anyone explain to me what goes into the selection of the finalists and in turn the winners? Once you become a semifinalist, does your score matter anymore? I understand that there are likely many that did better on the PSAT, but my grades, AP scores, and extracurriculars are excellent.
This may have already been answered…
Are juniors getting their scores from their schools/GC’s? or are they logging in and getting them?
And do they see a total score and also a SI?
Hi @mom2collegekids Kids who already had a CB account have, for the most part, been able to log in and see the scores. There are exceptions; some schools created new accounts that somehow weren’t tied to the old accounts and some students entered new email addresses or other identifying info that couldn’t be matched up to the existing account. Kids who didn’t have an account are, I think, required to set one up and use an access code that was emailed to kids over some timespan (not sure how long). The result is that the CB gets most all kids who took the PSAT to have a CB account. School GCs seem less necessary to the process except when there is a problem for the whole school.
They see their total score on the first web page. The SI score is on another page; there’s a link to the “NMSC Selection Index” on the pages.
Just a reminder to everyone who thinks they could possibly have a chance at NM scholarships, you must also take the SAT and get a decent score (not extremely high) in order to qualify for scholarships.
Great point @2kidsinky When does the SAT have to be taken? If DD took it fall of junior year, old version prior to PSAT, would that count?