Official National Merit Semifinalist Qualifying Score Thread for the Class of 2013

Paying for College National Merit Aid
661

<p>?</p>

<p>So no cut-offs increased?</p>

<p>Makes you wonder if some mistakes were made last year.</p>

<p>Alaska went down 8 points? That kind of swing is unheard of. The most before was 5 pts (I think) and that’s rare.</p>

662

<p>

Frustrating, isn’t it? It is my understanding that the “embargo” simply means that names and scores cannot be released to the media before the national date but that individuals can be privately notified any time before then. Past posters have said they have called the NMSC to confirm this is the policy. Certainly it is the policy in practice, as many schools do notify NMSF’s ASAP, in some cases even before school has started.</p>

<p>I am uncertain about whether informing the larger school community (but not the local press) is also permissible. IMO it would be most beneficial if the NMSC would simply clarify what is and is not acceptable, for surely they must be aware of the inconsistent interpretations nationwide, and help clear up the confusion.</p>

<p>

It is rather sensational. Wild swings are more likely with a smaller testing (and graduating) population but, as you know, m2ck, this is unprecedented.</p>

663

<p>National Merit is set to be announced Sept 12 - how long do NMSF have to complete the application?</p>

<p>sorry - found it myself: <a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>you all have until October 10th</p>

664

<p>I pushed a little with the guidance counselor (have to be careful because I have another kid to get through) so she went looking. Turns out they have a new testing coordinator who didn’t know they were supposed to give the head of guidance the info and instead gave it to the principal. Anyway, it was found and DS is a confirmed semifinalist - the only one from his school this year. Further confirmation that a 218 qualifies in Virginia.</p>

665

<p>Can someone clarify for me the difference between the two? Between Commended, National Merit Semi Finalist, Finalist, Scholar and now Achievement - am not certain what is what. Thanks and again appreciate this forum for parents who are mystified like me!</p>

666

<p>Check out these links:</p>

<p>[National</a> Merit Scholarship Corporation - NMSP](<a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php]National”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php)</p>

<p>[National</a> Merit Scholarship Corporation - NASP](<a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/nasp.php]National”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/nasp.php)</p>

<p>And for Hispanics …</p>

<p>[PSAT/NMSQT</a> Scholarships & Recognition](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>For Students: National Recognition Programs - BigFuture)</p>

667

<p>

There is an FAQ thread pinned at the top of the National Merit Scholarships forum that answers these questions: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1365011-faq-psat-sat-nmsf-nmf-process.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1365011-faq-psat-sat-nmsf-nmf-process.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

668

<p>Maybe I didn’t read the posts correctly, but how did you find out that the cutoff score in MN is 213 this year?</p>

669

<p>A girl in my school was told she was a semi finalist but her score is in the high 190s…and mine is 201 and I haven’t been notified. I live in Louisiana. Is it possible that she made it with that low of a score? And is there any way she would have somehow made it if I didn’t?</p>

670

<p>

I knew 212 didn’t make it and 213 did, and Perazziman’s list confirms this.

No score below 200 will qualify for any special designation in this year’s National Merit Scholarship contest and, according to our list, 201 should not work for semifinalist in LA, either. (I would expect, however, that you received a “top-scorer” letter last spring and will get a “commended” letter in a few weeks.)</p>

<p>Is it possible this girl has been honored for her score by some other contest, either the National Achievement Scholarship (for African-American students) or the National Hispanic Recognition Program? Otherwise I would have to infer that the score you report for her is incorrect.</p>

671

<p>I am pretty sure that the reason no cut-offs increased is because the class of 2012 was the tail end of the baby boomers which started with birth year in 1986. </p>

<p>Everything from this point forward should become less and less competitive. Simply, because the high school age group will continue to shrink for at least another 10 years. </p>

<p>The most competitive classes were students born between 1990-1993.</p>

672

<p>The population of high school graduates will decrease in the next few years, but only by a small percentage. See, for example, <a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2016/tables/table_24.asp?referrer=report[/url]”>http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2016/tables/table_24.asp?referrer=report&lt;/a&gt;
And we ought to expect the interest in competitive colleges across the country to continue to grow even if there are slightly fewer students, so I would not count on things becoming less and less competitive.</p>

<p>The decrease in this year’s scores is almost certainly an artifact of the test itself and the statistical methods used to scale scores. Every year there is an overall tendency, up or down, in the cutoff scores: last two years were “ups” and this year a really strong “down” but in-line with class of 2009 scores, one of your cited “competitive classes”.</p>

673

<p>Hooray! if 213 is indeed the cut off in MN (I got 213), I believe I am a semi finalist!</p>

<p>Thank you very much! I go to a large public school and it seems it always takes forever to get information from them.</p>

674

<p>The small privates in MN are also lagging, mnchucky. Congratulations! </p>

<p>For those who have their notifications, can someone provide the essay prompt & length info? I think it is usually the same from year to year, but D2 does not want to waste any effort just in case. But she wants to get it done and out of the way. Does that need to be part of the application due on October 10?</p>

675

<p>*A girl in my school was told she was a semi finalist but her score is in the high 190s…and mine is 201 and I haven’t been notified. I live in Louisiana. Is it possible that she made it with that low of a score? And is there any way she would have somehow made it if I didn’t?
*</p>

<p>Is that young lady African American? if so, then she probably made National Achievement Semi-finalist. She didn’t make NMSF with that score if she took the PSAT in your state last year.</p>

<p>However, if she took the PSAT last year in a US territory that has a high 190’s cut-off, then she could make NMSF because the cutoff would be that location…not her current location.</p>

676

<p>In our high school there are about 2 dozen NMSF every year and about 60 in the district as a whole. I don’t believe they are confused about the rules with that many year after year. WI state law has kids back to public school after Labor Day, no earlier. The first few days are pretty hectic. I think the district likes there to be a fuss about the NMSF, because it is one of their big selling points, an indicator of what a great job they do, don’t you know. If they wait until the official media release date, when things are calmed down at school, the announcement makes more of an impact. They have meetings and receptions for the kids, etc. They could tell kids individually earlier, but then news would get around, not as much fun for the district as when it’s a secret released to all at once.</p>

<p>But it is a hassle for us, D with a borderline score. As others have said, not knowing which schools to apply to. Especially bad with a performing arts kid, when you need to visit schools, have lessons with profs in advance, then auditions later. So much to schedule. Some schools are on list no matter what. But there are several which are kind of iffy but the easy money makes them more attractive.</p>

677

<p>Oh, and I meant to say sincere thx to Descartesz, Datnab, Seriwe and others who post in this thread for helping us get the good news earlier so we can get started here.</p>

678

<p>

</p>

<p>We do not know if the listed scores are the cut-off or not. If you made NMSF with a lower number, let us know. We lost the data on post numbers. These are numbers that I had written down without the post numbers.</p>

679

<p>^^^^
perizzaman deserves special mention, too, I think.</p>

<p>perizzaman, the MN cutoff is my own contribution that I posted in #623 and of which I have some personal knowledge as a parent of a MN HS student. I think mnchucky can be as assured about that score as any others we have, which is to say reliably assured but without guarantee.</p>

680

<p>From lagunal:</p>

<p>"I am pretty sure that the reason no cut-offs increased is because the class of 2012 was the tail end of the baby boomers which started with birth year in 1986. </p>

<p>Everything from this point forward should become less and less competitive. Simply, because the high school age group will continue to shrink for at least another 10 years."</p>

<p>What you are saying here isn’t relevant to National Merit. The awards are given to some portion of the top 1%, but for the sake of discussion let’s say that its the top 1%. Even if the group shrinks or grows, you are still competing against 99% of the group. If there are 100 people in the group, then 1 person (the top 1%) gets an award. If there are 300 people in the group, then 3 people (the top 1%) gets awards. The size of the group doesn’t matter…you just need to be in the top 1%.</p>