You’re right - it does say 99+ - I must’ve conflated what I read with what someone else posted cause I am so not a number person.
99+ could be 99.1, 99.2…99.9% 
@srk2017 If you look at the chart,
228 99+
227 99+
226 99+
225 99+
224 99+
223 99+
222 99+
221 99+
220 99+
219 99+
218 99+
217 99+
216 99+
215 99+
214 99+
213 99
212 99
211 99
210 99
209 99
208 99
207 99
206 99
205 99
there are 9 scores qualifying as 99% and 15 as 99+. It is incredibly unlikely that less than .1% separates 205 from 214. The lower scores are going to have a higher percentage of students, so having a larger + range for the .5 in the entire 1% breakdown is logical.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek
Someone posted the following in PSAT thread. Not sure where they got it
1520, 228, 99.95th Percentile
1500, 225, 99.90th Percentile
1490, 224, 99.85th Percentile
1480, 222, 99.80th Percentile
1470, 220, 99.70th Percentile
1460, 219, 99.65th Percentile
1450, 218, 99.60th Percentile
1440, 218, 99.55th Percentile
1430, 211, 99.50th Percentile
1420, 210, 99.45th Percentile
Why not just give out the absolute rank, like 1st in 1,500,000 or 1005th out of 1,500,000?
Other countries do. During grad school, I saw some people listed on their resumes, 1st out of 700,000 during college entrance exam (S. Korea) and 7th out of 2,000,000 (India.) Can’t compete with that! :))
@srk2017 The numbers I posted are from CB. The numbers you posted I believe are someone’s analysis of the released info, but I don’t know for sure.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek - CB #s don’t have fractional breakdown, so other #s may be speculation.
I guess American wisdom is to use percentiles not ranks to make it less stressful or make it more confusing
Also because the states have different cutoffs, you might be 14,000 out of 1.5 million but not advance to NMSF status if you are in a state with a very high cutoff.
You guys are depressing me! LOL! We live in NY, a “high score” state. I think last year’s cutoff was 218. A 5% direct reduction in the score is 206. My son is above 206. But, according to the above post, he will likely miss the cut off by .05 Percent. I think we just need to wait till September!
I find the whole thing confusing. Didn’t the commended cutoff used to be 200 or 201? what percentage was that? after that it’s all about what state you are in so I’m not sure the 99% is necessarily all that important if you live in one of the historically low cutoff states…
The commended cutoff changes every year also. I think it was 201 for the HS class of 2015 (my D15’s year). Last year it was 202. But i believe that it is typically between 200 and 202
Commended cutoff was 203 for class of 2014, but agree that 200-202 was more typical range.
To change the subject for a minute: college rec letters for newbies 101. So D is starting to plan her summer and to balance it with time to start college applications, etc. I have no idea how this is normally done. Do kids normally start asking jr. year teachers for these before school lets out? Do teachers submit them all via email or how does it work these days?
Please! Change the subject!
@Leafyseadragon done! I have nothing to contribute to the PSAT/NMF conversation. D has a SI of 203 and in Texas it is not likely to be in NMF range. I am not a statistician and don’t have the time to go through all the stats and predictions. I admire the heck out of those who do though! I am totally feeling the pain of those of you whose kids scored high enough to have a chance…my heart will break with those of you whose kids missed it be a point or two!
@carachel2 I’ve read that it depends on the school. It ranges from students needing to ask in late spring at high-achieving schools to asking in September or even later. At some schools, teachers set quotas of how many they will write. We haven’t heard of deadlines or limitations here, because until this year, none of the UCs accepted recommendations and a lot of students apply only to the CSUs and UCs. I’d guess that you should ask some seniors or senior parents. I hear that GCs can sometimes give advice on which teachers are better writers, as far as recommendations go.
DS has to ask a couple teachers for recommendations for summer programs soon. He got recommendations freshman year for a summer program. One teacher wrote it in a timely fashion. The other said she would do it, but never got around to it, so he had to ask another teacher at the last minute.
@carachel2 How kids apply depends on the schools being applied to. If it is a Commom App school, everything is uploaded electronically. Lots of schools are not CA. Most of them have their own online apps to be filled out. Some schools require LOR; some won’t accept them. Basically there is no single answer.
As far as when to ask, my kids have asked at the end of 11th grade. But, we are homeschoolers so our relationships with outside teachers differ from school kids.
College apps can consume a lot of time if students are applying to a lot of schools. I like my kids to have their list close to finalized by mid-summer. By mid-Oct, I want them to be done. A lot of scholarships have early deadlines. Nothing is worse then finding out about a program they are interested in after the deadline has passed.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek and @Ynotgo thanks! Not applying to high achieving schools necessarily, just wants to get things done before senior year starts and to take advantage of any scholarship opportunities. So she needs to ask at the end of jr. year and get teachers email addresses so she can enter those on the applications?
Re: LORs. Our guidance dept strongly suggests that students ask for letters by April break of Jr year. (Well, that was the policy for class of 2014.) A couple of teachers have very strict policies about writing letters. One or two require that the student complete a form, others implement caps, some will write college LORs but do not have time to write any other type (NHS, for example).
The student should touch base with the teacher in the fall to gently remind and perhaps update with news of summer activities, if applicable.
So I would say this varies widely by HS.