I don’t think the cut off will change too much from last year maybe +/- one point.
@WorryHurry411 I’m glad that I’m not the only one overly apprehensive about the upcoming PSAT scores;-)
I would say they have to go up because 2018s have had a full year with this new test and the benefit of practice tests but geez there’s not much room in many states to go up much!
I agree @vistajay. I’m nervous about my D (and me) getting false hope here in our 213 cutoff state.
@ShrimpBurrito I know what you mean. My S18’s high school usually has 35-50 NMF each year, but last yeat dropped to 21. But my S was getting 219-223 on practice exams leading up to the PSAT, and there are plenty of kids at his HS who will score higher. Our cut off was 216 last year.
We’re in TX and last year the cut off was 220 I can see it going to 221 but not much higher.
I vote they reset California to 223 and drop everyone else a point. 
I recommend having similar standard for our whole country. Just one cutoff for every applicant.
But if they did that only very highly populated states with great schools would be represented or all the kids that can afford to go to expensive boarding schools. National Merit wants to represent the entire country but if it on took the top scores it would mostly only be Boarding School kids, private school kids and kids in CA, NJ and MA.
With the new test the scores between states are much closer than before. Think of it as national merits version of the electoral college:-)
LOL. Indeed.
I guess even with current system private schools are at advantage.
Yes but boarding schools are at least held to the highest cut offs and because there are many more privates school in DC, NJ, NY, MA than say in Montana, that influences their states cut offs.
The fair/unfair issue was explored pretty well at another forum that I’m sure everyone is familiar with. My take is that the current system is as good as it gets. Unless you have true-life experience in one of those “dumb” states, I can imagine it’s difficult to empathize.
Picture sending your D to a school that offers 3 APs taught by people who really don’t care. Imagine the AP chem teacher is allowed to ‘skip’ school once a week to work at a soup kitchen, and while that’s honorable on one level, is it altruistic volunteerism if the teacher is drawing full salary and benefits for the days from the school district? And what about lab projects? Your D is often in a team of kids who struggle with the material. To understand the frustration without sounding like an arse, many of us have been paired in work situations with people we cherish and respect, yet cannot take the project to its potential. Your D also doesn’t have support from study groups.
The school also offers no PSAT/SAT prep, and the GCs have never heard of Khan Academy.
I’ve worked with kids in both “smart” states and “dumb” states. It’s my experience that privates max kids out early, while poor publics leave some gems as yet unpolished. The most expensive prep school in the US has a reported average SAT of 1430. It’s not crazy to think an Ivy prof would like to see the faces of a few kids from Burnsville, WV, who scored that or better.
Is this the only thread on NMS for Class of 2018 @3scoutsmom ? If so, I’m shocked! Last year there were 100s of posts just before release date. My son’s friend is hoping to qualify so was on here looking for release date info and surprised at the low volume.
@suzyQ7, the scores are supposed to be released to the schools today, and then available online for the students on December 12.
@suzyQ7 last year was an odd year, it was the first year of the new test. Many thought the test was easier for them and thought they had a good shot at NM so there was a lot of speculation. Unfortunately for many the cut offs also rose There was also a lot of discussion about calculating the score, in the past the selection index and the the score were directly correlated (you could just drop the zero off of the score and you had the selection index) now that is not the case and 3 people that have the same score can have different selection index which caused a great deal of confusion.
This year we have last year’s information to use as a baseline so there’s not as much as much “mystery” though some do think the cut offs might go up a bit. Really there’s just not as much to say as there was last year.
Also us 2018ers are a laid back group! But seriously, there has been a bit more discussion in the 2018 Parents thread.
'18ers went through that wretched delay with only the tail of their dog in the fight, so they’re calloused up a bit and also having a better baseline. Our state has historically not jumped more than two points, so D knew what to shoot for. There was unexpected calm as she disappeared into the school entrance this morning.
Any PSAT news from schools with Naviance?
Nothing here yet. I’m not as laid back as vistajay and started checking Naviance at midnight:-) This may be a l-o-n-g week.