<p>go2mom - I was thinking the same thing for the Math section - ds missed 2 (omitted 0) and scored 73.</p>
<p>Thank you! Yes, we are very proud and relieved. </p>
<p>Now time to start getting a list of good Engineering/Math/Science schools in Northeast that offer good Merit aid.</p>
<p>Exciting and scary at the same time.</p>
<p>My daughter finally got her PSAT socre. It is 216 ! I know it is not amazing, but we live in Arizona. The cut off in Arizona last year was 213. We are still not sure whether she made the cut off this year or not ! Did any one know what is the cut off this year in AZ?</p>
<p>Hi Dildil â congrats to your DD. Unfortunately, for reasons no one understands, the cutoffs for this year wonât be announced until September 2013! So you get to do lots of waiting and hoping and guessing for the next 9 months :-/ (BTDT with DSâ11 and may well be in the same spot with DSâ14 but we donât have his scores yet.) Usually the cutoffs donât jump a ton in one year, but between class of '11 and class of '12 there was a big (5-point) jump in VT (and I think jumps in most other states as well â maybe that was a slightly easy PSAT or something). Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks mathmomvt. OMG ! That is too long 
Is this info on the college board website?
Let me know.</p>
<p>[National</a> Merit Scholarship Corporation](<a href=âhttp://www.nationalmerit.org/]Nationalâ>http://www.nationalmerit.org/) has all the info about the National Merit scholarship competition. This pdf has the timeline for those who took the PSAT in 2011 and are graduating in 2013, so add one year to all the dates for our kids: <a href=âhttp://www.nationalmerit.org/steps_nmsp.pdf[/url]â>http://www.nationalmerit.org/steps_nmsp.pdf</a> If you hop onto the National Merit Scholarship forum here, folks will try to make some educated guesses about likely cutoffs based on comparing this yearâs 99th %ile range to that in prior years. But really itâs 9 months of suspense. :(</p>
<p>Congrats to those with great scores! I slipped into the GO to get a peek at my guyâs scores ahead of time. He did better than I expected at 181 (we knew it would be far from NM anything, but the percentages tell me itâs at the 89th percentile). Hopefully it will inspire him to study for the real thing this spring.</p>
<p>It still bugs me that this kid didnât like homeschooling enough to stick with it. My older two (who homeschooled the upper grades) did much, much better and this guy is just as smart - just underprepared due to our school district and being unwilling to supplement more stuff (especially math) outside of school. This guy wonât need high scores to do what he wants to do, but being able to afford other schools without higher stats could be problematic. He knows this, so if he canât go where he would like to, heâs the one who got himself there.</p>
<p>That cut off at the top is murder this year⊠I feel for those of you in borderline range.</p>
<p>Gilgilâa 216 is nothing to be ashamed of! Thatâs a great score and in MANY states your kid would qualify as a semi-finalist. </p>
<p>Hereâs a link to last yearâs cut-offs. [PSAT-</a> National Merit Scholarships and Semifinalist State Cutoff Scores](<a href=âhttp://bigdogacb.hubpages.com/hub/National-Merit]PSAT-â>http://bigdogacb.hubpages.com/hub/National-Merit) As mathmomvt stated, itâs a good nine monthsâkind of like waiting for the end of a very long pregnancy! (Although I would have to say, having a baby is a lot more exciting than finding out if you qualified for NFM!)</p>
<p>All of these scores so far are very respectable. What frightens me is the kid who really donât have a fighting chance of continuing their educationâwhether itâs from a lack of preparedness or uninvolved parents or just poor work habits. A poor PSAT score is just a symptom of a much larger problem.</p>
<p>Congrats everyone! </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, as of now, I want to go into science academia and run a company on the side 
, so a high workload is definitely in the cards. On the plus side, I have a good feeling that both the people and work will be more interesting and enjoyable in the future. :)</p>
<p>Congratulations, Jasminerose and Dildil! We have not yet received the score, though I check every day. S2 was ill on the day he took it: could barely think. I and am bracing myself, while keeping him at a distance from my anxiety. Iâve told him itâs no big deal, he was sick, so he gets what he gets. And in a larger sense this is true though I had hoped for at least commended.</p>
<p>My son did about as well as Creeklandâs on the PSAT. I think it was the 87th percentile. It was the first test of this type heâd ever taken though and I didnât expect NMSF results. He did no prep. On both that and the ACT, his lowest scores were in Geometry, which makes sense because he took that quite awhile ago now. I did forget, he took the PLAN test in September but got those results a week before he took the ACT. He botched Geometry on that too. He does know what he needs to study now! All of our juniors take an ACT prep class second trimester junior year so he just started that last week. He has taken two science practice tests since then and got a 35 the second time around. During the real ACT and the first practice, he didnât finish. So heâs getting faster. It wasnât that he got things wrong, he just didnât finish. </p>
<p>Heâs learning test taking strategies. My D was not a good test taker and her SATs were borderline for Barnard but she managed to get in anyway. Iâd like him to be less worried and to possibly get aid.</p>
<p>I completely disagree with the statement go2mom made, âA poor PSAT score is just a symptom of a much larger problem.â</p>
<p>The PSAT is The âPreliminaryâ SAT test, a test that students should use as a guide to help them prepare for the SAT or decide that maybe the SAT is not the best test format for them. Also, it is only one measure of that studentâs abilities (test taking). Some students just donât test well, some students may have had a bad day. There are many other facets of a studentâs abilities. Colleges have recognized this and that is one of the reasons why some have become test optional or allow other means for students to showcase their abilities.</p>
<p>I hope parents with their first child going to college do not become discouraged due to a âpoorâ PSAT score. It is one test - not the be all and end all of your childâs future education!</p>
<p>DD received her PSAT scores today and she is at the same level as last yearâs practice test. No NMF here. Now its time to focus on SAT or ACT and start the real prep. She needs 200-250 SAT points or 4-5 ACT points to be in a competative range. She gets this weekend off for 17th birthday and then we set the study schedule for 2013. :eek:</p>
<p>Time will tell. Congrats to those with high scores!!</p>
<p>Mathmomvt and go2mom, thanks for all the usefull links and support. My daughter was expecting a higher score in PSAT writing section (she got a 70)since all the practice tests she took her scores were always in 77-78 range. Was the writing section really tough this year ? or may be she just blew it! </p>
<p>I feel like I do not have a lot of information on NMS. So, there is a cutoff in the beginning, then there is another slightly higher cutoff for the semi finalist. Mom2go, the link that has last yearâs cut offs; are they the first one or the second ?</p>
<p>Congratulations to all of you for the PSAT scores!!! We havenât heard yet. </p>
<p>When I read the posts, it seems like parents/students from areas where there is high presence of tech as in CA or more emphasis on education as in MA or NY give more importance to standardized testing. Where we live, even motivated kids do not think about the tests until end of their junior year. I am wondering whatâs the reason for that push or priority or the big difference between the small towns and major regions in CA/MA/NY? better exposure to what colleges are looking for? Motivation to get the test part of the admission done during junior year to enable the kids to application process in senior year? Or something the highschools in those regions emphasize kids/parents about the testing? May be all of the above :)</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I usually try to avoid generalizing without solid data but couldnât help notice the difference reading CC posts. Fee free to correct me if I am wrong by providing data.</p>
<p>Please disregard my question about the cut offs. After reading carefully, I now know that my daughter could be a semifinalist in AZ 
Thank you once again.</p>
<p>Yes, you are right happyormom. However, Itâs not only parents or students, schools also emphasize a lot on PSATs and SATs. I have heard that in New Jersy and MA most schools have a dedicated period for SAT prep everyday, starting from 9th grade!No wonder there scores are one of the highest in the nation.</p>
<p>For our family, the emphasis on the SAT or ACT is for scholarship $$ and more choices in which colleges could work. We had saved for college educations, then the economic downturn hit and our income went way down. We used what little savings we had left (didnât lose) to do minor things like pay the mortgage and electric bills. Now the economy is coming back, so our income is starting to return. Fafsa and CSS go off income and assume one has been saving all along.</p>
<p>Merit aid is highly desirable for us. Our local high school puts almost no emphasis on these tests and does not offer prep courses except small ones outside of school time. I, personally, went to a school that did recognize the benefits of good scores (and a good foundational education). Therefore, Iâm trying to raise my boys based upon my experience even when it meant pulling them from the public school to homeschool for them to reach the goals. It worked for my older two (and they have absolutely no regrets). Youngest is different. Itâs his life, so weâre letting him choose his path, but a big part of me wonders if Iâll regret that (and if he will too). Itâs too late now to change. He may be our only one who doesnât get to go to a decent 4 year school (and a school doesnât have to be Top 50 to be decent for us). I know heâll get IN to some places. I have huge concerns about paying for them. We donât qualify for Parent Plus loans, nor would I take out huge amounts.</p>
<p>High stat kids have oodles of options and many of those come with decent financial offerings. Middle and lower stat kids get some financial offerings (I see it every year at school), but those offerings donât always make a place affordable.</p>
<p>
I could not disagree more. Our students have enough pressure as it is and this sort of though process is very destructive to them and to us.</p>
<p>I hope no one minds if re-post something that I wrote on my feelings regarding the PSAT earlier that seemed to resonate with other members as well at the time. It appears as post #2025 on 10/18.</p>
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</p>
<p>As for S2 who some would have seen with a pitiful CR PSAT as a âlarger problemââŠno need to feel sorry for him as heâs really doing okay. Heâs currently a second year Mechanical Engineering student at UVa. He turned down a full rides at Bama and Auburn, big targets for NMFâs. (shamless braggingâŠ
but it illustrates the point well)</p>
<p>Following BlueIguana to a point⊠My D13 is a tippy top student- literally hasnât had B in high school. Her PSAT was terrible. I remember thinking it was harder than the SAT too, but her first SAT (October of junior year) was right in line with the PSAT, marginally over 1500- donât recall exact numbers but low 500s across the board- and I was dumbstruck. I figured about a 2000 for that one. Anyway we made her take it early in order to see if sheâd need prep. She did. We asked around and got recommendations for a prep class, which was a private one in the end, not through Kumon etc. she did a six month class and took it twice along the way. Had about a 1900. Still not ideal but at that point, not totally off the realm of possibility for her top schools - UVa, UNC, etc. took it once more this fall- 2050. So, more than 500 points gained. I knew she wouldnât have time to self study and that the strategies taught in class might help and I think they did. S14 started the same class last night. Point being, thereâs always time and ways of bringing up the scores.</p>