Thanks for the NV update @DiotimaDM, we knew D18 was safe with a 222, but she is rooting for a lot of her friends & knows at least 4 of them who were sitting on a 216. One of them (super-nice kid) was over our house this summer and excitedly told us what school he planned to attend if he moved on to NMF.
If the NV cutoff indeed jumped-up by 3 points, it’s going to be a rough day for D’s friend group tomorrow!
@sewin2music no need to call anyone. Collegeboard doesn’t administer the National Merit competition and NMSC won’t be answering any questions before the press release date. Meanwhile, CA will be crowdsourced hopefully before the end of the week.
NV was reported by a commenter on Art’s blog - talked to the principal at the school’s open house, learned the cut-off and that names won’t be relased till 9/13. Sounds like a credible source. If it’s wrong he’ll call it back.
@JBStillFlying Oh I know not to call anyone. Just expressing some frustration about my misinformed guidance counselor, but I know I’m definitely not the only one that has to deal with this.
Does anyone know when they started using different cutoffs for each state?
Hello CC Friends and Lurkers! I am hoping to get the news today - for better or for worse. Best of luck to all, and congrats to those who already got the great news!
@Huskymaniac, I believe this has been in practice for as long as anyone can remember. Do not look at this as different cutoffs for each state. Rather, National Merit allocates the approximately 16000 slots to each state based on the number of graduating seniors from that state. If ND has only 2% of the graduating senior class, they are entitled to 2% of the total semifinalists. In essence, each qualifying semifinalist is a member of the top 1 (or 1.25%) of the seniors in their state. Part of the rationale is that some states have excellent opportunities for students to take advanced courses whereas other states do not necessarily have similar opportunities. This means the students from such states have historically performed well compared to those who have not had similar challenging opportunities. PSAT (and SAT) no longer assesses “innate” knowledge but measures “developed” knowledge and states with better opportunity to develop student’s knowledge invariably score better (and thus are more competitive).
@TexanIndian very well stated and great first post! Welcome to CC!
To add on to @TexanIndian’s great explanation, there’s also a sensible theory that in order for companies and colleges nationwide to continue to support the NM program, it is necessary to ensure that semifinalists are well distributed around the country. For instance Alabama overall K-12 public school ranking and resources are far from the best in the country. Yet multiple Alabama public universities offer some amazing NMF scholarships. I imagine those opportunities would dry up very quickly if NMSC changed to seriatim ranking to determine NMSF and suddenly many fewer Alabama students would qualify for NMSF.
At the end of the day, NMSC can do business as it sees fit. The NM selection process is transparent and NMSC follows its own rules. People may not like those rules but NMSC is doing what is necessary to keep nationwide interest in (and funding for) its program.
@3scoutsmom, Thank you… I have been lurking around (and consuming information) for the past year or so that I decided to take the plunge and join. D is a senior in a private school in TX and incidentally sits at 221 NMSQT with solid SAT/Subject Test results and 4.02 unweighted GPA to boot. I would do anything to help her realize her dreams (spoken like any dad that is proud of his D, I am sure!).
@Huskymaniac Just a guess based on your user name but we are sitting on a 220 in CT. If that is the score you are most interested in as well we can keep each other informed as the information leaks out.
S18’s school is closed today, so I will have to live vicariously through your reports. Keep em coming!
@vistajay, I hope you’re not in much danger from Harvey. My H is working from home today (his office is in downtown Houston so of course still closed) and I can hear him on the phone gathering reports from all his field employees in Louisiana and Alabama. Nearly all their oil and gas production is shut in or will be soon, some facilities are flooded and damaged, and some of his people are being personally impacted. Stay safe in LA!
@JBStillFlying I was told Sept 13th for release as well.
Thanks, @traveler98 ! We expect some street flooding today in NOLA, as long as the pumps function. But nothing like what y’all have suffered. LA and TX are joined at the hip. Like many here, I used to live in Houston, have lots of family there, and travel for business there frequently. Your recovery will be a long road, but I cannot think of any place better suited to rise triumphantly from such disaster.
Idaho cut is 216 per principal.
Art predicted Idaho at 216.
I hope that means good news for your family, @DaGator
Thank you for the kind words. Unfortunately, she missed it by one.
So sorry DaGator. Thank you for kindly coming to share the cutoff, even if it wasn’t good news for your family.
So sorry, DaGator. We appreciate the update and wish nothing but the best for your daughter!