<p>^^ sorry, was not clear. I meant when he ‘applied’ to take the SAT. To be considered for PSC, I think you have be a graduating HS senior. So did he enter that he was such?</p>
<p>how exactly does one become eligible? could our score have come from ANY of our tests (as in sophomore year, junior year etc) or just from senior year?
I got a 800s on writing and reading, but a 790 on math :(</p>
<p>Yeah, 790 on math, poor you. I’m pretty sure that’s why they nixed you. Study harder next time.</p>
<p>Honestly, Stupefy seems to have the right idea- cutoffs appear very high and very particular. My school is in ACT territory, and it appears that in my area a 36 led to nomination, while a 35 was denied it.</p>
<p>Then standards must vary according to geography. Notice for example, that Chicago, with 2.8 million residents, has fewer candidates than some cities in the South with only a fraction as many residents, so there’s no way the cutoff scores could have been the same.</p>
<p>Hmm…re-reading it now, my last comment sounds pretty nasty. Sorry, Stupefy. Especially since my son qualified with lower scores than yours. Geography must be the difference.</p>
<p>It’s by state. Top 20 female and top 20 male scores and ties for each state. The cut off in my state is under 1500 (Writing is not considered).</p>
<p>A 35 ACT (34-36-35-36=141) did not make it in Missouri. I’d be curious what configuration made it.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all the proud parents! I have a few answers to some of the questions above. . .</p>
<p>My son was nominated when W was pres, so there was no incentive for him to apply. The news arrived just after he had completed the application process, and he just didn’t have any interest in writing more essays. Plus, there were 5 or 6 nominees from his school, and everyone knew who would win the boys’ award. They were right 
- this kid is just amazing and totally deserved the state-wide award. He invited a wonderful teacher to go along on the trip. The program doesn’t pay for the teacher to attend, only the student, but the school rose to the occasion. </p>
<p>The school counseling office couldn’t have been less encouraging about how much this nomination might affect college admissions. Pretty much said “well, the colleges already know these kids have perfect SAT scores, so it’s not a big deal.”</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s ever a published cutoff for scores, but it does vary state to state. The people my son knew who qualified were all 1600’s. Someone asked about ACT scores; they do distinguish between a straight across 36 and a 36 that’s really a 35.5 (and on down the line). I think I read somewhere that 140 total seemed to be the cutoff that year in several states. However it’s achieved, your kids should consider it a real honor. There’s something very cool about achieving these great scores in a single sitting, and they should be proud!</p>
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<p>Agreed. It does, however, give some context to the extent that a (significantly) less than perfect score is still one of the top ones in the state. Having said that, it does turn out that only 1500 HS seniors took the SAT in my <em>entire</em> state in 2008/9 cycle. I expect many more took the ACT.</p>
<p>I wanted to see how many students in CA were tied with perfect scores. I counted up to 112, then realized I was only beginning the M section of the alphabet, and gave up!</p>
<p>Last year my dd was on the list and wrote all 14!! short and longer essays, even though she knew the competition was pretty tough when you’re in a very high population state, and everyone you’re competing against has a perfect SAT or ACT score to start with! </p>
<p>She was not the one girl from CA last year, but felt a little better when she heard that although they got into the Oval Office, they didn’t get to meet Barack Obama. Is that correct? I think I read here last June that they did meet with VP Joe Biden though. </p>
<p>It’s quite an honor, no matter where you live, so congratulations to all on the 2010 list.</p>
<p>mantori.suzuki:
</p>
<p>It is true that 790 on Math nixed her. For most of the competitive states you can be the candidate iff you score perfect 800 on Math and Reading on SAT1. Writing is still not considered. From CA only 1600 out of 1600 qualify for the SAT1.
DD qualified in 2009 as candidate along with 8 other from her school in CA and one of them became the presidential scholar representing CA.
This year 9 qualified and hopefully one will get to go to White house. Last three year one of the senior has qualified to be a presidential scholar.
I think it is a great honor specially from a large state as CA.</p>
<p>^^^: Just to clarify it was year 2006, 2008, and 2009 instead of past three years that DD high school produced the presidential scholar representing CA.</p>
<p>POIH. Wow, that’s pretty amazing. Obviously there’s something at the school above and beyond the scores that brings out the best in the kids.</p>
<p>Wow…so do you recommend telling the colleges you applied to this information? I just randomly found my name on this list.</p>
<p>tebow… You’ll be getting a letter from them shortly. Consensus seems to be that while it probably doesn’t provide any new info, you should let your schools know.</p>
<p>And its not random. Your name is on the list because you did good.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting. I saw 26 kids from S’s high school, including 3 friends from grade school.</p>
<p>If it says your high school is unknown… what can you do?</p>
<p>I’m not sure why it would say that… I have a high school…</p>
<p>Thank you OP for this link. I had no idea such a list existed, and I was quite surprised to see my daughter’s name on the list. It is nice to see that the final selection process goes beyond standardized test scores, though clearly students from huge states are at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>Yeah, they are…heh heh heh… 
:D</p>
<p>My son also received a letter and made “the list”. We are in a very, very low population state (less than 3/4 of a million people in the whole state). From what I can tell it took a 34 ACT (or the SAT equivalent of 1490) for the boys and a 33 ACT (or equivalent SAT) to make the list for the girls. Very few people take the SAT here. There were 5 students from my son’s school on the list (4 of them were also the National Merit Semifinalists). One semifinalist did not make it on the list and one non-semifinalist did make it. Very interestingly, 3 of the students on the list live in 3 consecutive houses on our block but do not all go to the same school. I figure it had to be all the sidewalk chalk math we did with kids back when they were little :-).</p>