<p>@mathmom – so true! The new SAT to be released March 2016 will include a 50 min essay, instead of the current 25.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids lol, no I believed the story, I just can’t believe it was allowed. I was unaware that a GC could simply call up and ask for special treatment, but why should I be surprised? So many special snowflakes out there…why should everyone have to play by the same rules?</p>
<p>Since @planner03 has said this now twice, I want to make it perfectly clear that mom2ck is absolutely telling the truth. I know the student and the situation.</p>
<p>The GC asked for a medical accommodation and got it. She was a very experienced GC and knew how to direct the circumstances to the right person at College Board to make a decision which allowed this student a different test opportunity.</p>
<p>There are rules for these kind of circumstances, which were followed by College Board in their interpretation of the situation.</p>
<p>It wasn’t either mom2’s or my child in this situation.</p>
<p>So believe it or not, but I want to emphatically state that mom2 was totally truthful in describing this situation and the outcome.</p>
<p>@planner03 If you look through the NMCorp website there is a mention of what to do when a student is sick on PSAT day. the GC contacts NMCorp and then a SAT is used instead. </p>
<p>I will say that often people do not know about this option. We often hear reports that someone missed the PSAT opportunity because of illness or that the student didn’t do well on the test because he/she was sick, but they didn’t know about this option. </p>
<p>Blame NMCorp if you don’t like it. </p>
<p>@SOSConcern Thank you. </p>
<p>My kid isn’t sure where he wants to go yet, but that’s a good perspective Consolation. </p>
<p>He could use his SAT to get there- he has a November score. When we talked about it this week, he said he wants to use the PSAT score. I asked him to hold off until we saw his November score. I’m letting him make the decision. He feels like he did extremely well on the PSAT - better than the SAT.</p>
<p>As an aside, spending any time at all in the SAT forum today is interesting. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Understandable- but lots of stress in there!</p>
<p>If the option to use SAT score is taken, I wonder if the student will be required to meet the “state cutoff score x 10” level? I assume so, since the usual confirming score of 1960 using the M+CR+(Writing MC x 10) formula wouldn’t make sense. What state is the OP located in, and did NMSC specify a particular SAT score that must be achieved?</p>
<p>The cutoff score for our state is over five points below his SAT score (converted to a PSAT score.) I say about, but the PSAT cutoff score has been reliable for all but 6 of the last 7 years (and even then was only 1 point higher than normal.) </p>
<p>The NMcorp folks didn’t say anything about what SAT score would qualify.</p>
<p>^^^
I don’t think NMCorp CAN say what score will qualify since the cutoffs for next year haven’t yet been set.</p>
<p>Once that cutoff is set (and they do that sometime spring/early summer), then in Sept the NMSF students are announced. </p>
<p>How did you convert his PSAT to SAT? Did you just take off the 0, or did you do the formula for W?</p>
<p>Good point on the cutoff (though I’m certain this score has qualified him). I suppose this crop of juniors could be off the chart, but the statistics across the state have been remarkably steady over the years.</p>
<p>I think you meant SAT to PSAT? I took off the zero, but since he got an 800 on the writing portion (80 mc), it’s the same score either way unless I’m misinterpreting the calculation formula.</p>
<p>lol…yes, I meant SAT to PSAT. </p>
<p>Yes, you’re right about the calculation…either way for him he has an 80. What is his calculated PSAT score using the SAT and what is your home state? and what were the last two cutoff scores?</p>
<p>His calculated SAT to PSAT is 223, home state is Oregon, last two years: 218 and 213 (but I thought this year the cutoff for graduating seniors was 217
So maybe 217 and 218???). Data from: <a href=“http://hubpages.com/hub/National-Merit”>http://hubpages.com/hub/National-Merit</a>.</p>
<p>If the cutoff for Oregon is 217 for this year’s seniors, then it would have to increase by 7 points for your son not to make NMSF. It is highly unlikely going to increase by that much, but you have to take the risk of deciding which way to gamble. </p>
<p>Your son thinks he did better on his SAT? </p>
<p>I would find out what the required cutoff on the sat has to be to qualify for NMSF before making that decision. Does the sat score need to be the same as the PSAT x 10 for your particular state? </p>
<p>Then you have to figure out how kid usually does on PSAT vs sat. Often the PSAT is harder to get a high score because, iirc, there are fewer questions so if you miss 1 or 2 it really drops your score into not qualifying whereas on the sat you can miss more and still retain in a higher score (higher than psatx10).
I believe that they include the essay and use a cutoff based on entirety of Cr+M+W. So for example in CA if the PSAT cutoff is 220, then the required sat is 2200. But definitely double check the exact numbers with college board.</p>
<p>As a side note, to respond to other posters as why everyone doesn’t do this…As for who can take sat in place of PSAT to qua qualify for NMSF, it’s usually done in special circumstances (ie not everyone can request it).</p>
<p>Normally if you keep the PSAT, then you have to score above the cutoff, say 220 in my previous example. Then you “verify” it with a qualifying sat score, but that sat score is actually not super high (meaning that you do not need as high as a 2200 to verify it)</p>
<p>Lastly, your kid would have to take the sat probably in dec because CB needs the scores by jan in order to calculate if kid qualifies and hand out the award with everyone else. Will this give kid enough time to study for the sat?</p>
<p><<<
Normally if you keep the PSAT, then you have to score above the cutoff,
<<<</p>
<p>NO…you have to score at least the cutoff. You do NOT have to score above the cutoff.</p>
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<p>???</p>
<p>While CB may want the SAT to be taken in Dec, THEY DO NOT need the score by Jan. CB won’t be “handing out” anything until September of this student’s senior year. </p>
<p>@yoho yoho</p>
<p>“So believe it or not, but I want to emphatically state that mom2 was totally truthful in describing this situation and the outcome.”</p>
<p>I guess you have never heard the phrase “I can’t believe it?” Geez…I wasn’t attacking the credibility of the story. </p>
<p>I would be concerned about the “irregularity.” On the regular SAT, my daughter’s CR score was extremely low for her (she’s been taking SAT since middle school, so we knew what to expect). She got the test hand-scored, and it turns out there was a mistake in scoring that took off 150 points from her CR score. That’s a difference in a 630 and a 780 in Critical Reading. We were so glad that she decided to challenge the score and get the test hand scored! Is that the kind of “irregularity” that has taken place with your son’s PSAT? I wouldn’t want to take chances.</p>
Just a quick follow up. My kid decided to just use his PSAT score, which we finally received. It’s well above the cutoff for the state in any of the previous years.
Congrats!!!