Hello all,
Unfortunately, my school district may be cancelling the 2020 Fall PSAT due to COVID-19. I am registered to take the SAT this fall in another school district that claims they will still be administering the SAT.
Could I potentially use my SAT score for entrance into the NMS competition? I don’t know if this would count as “alternate entry” or not.
Another poster here mentioned that there is a way to do that. Try poking around on the College Board web site to find the details.
Nothing has yet been officially posted
“ Information about Alternate Entry to the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program is not available at this time. Further instructions and requirements for Alternate Entry to the 2022 competition will be posted here in late October 2020.”
Note that they have created a new test date in January. Is your school considering the option of moving the test date?
Dates for this years PSAT are 10/14, 10/17 and 10/29. I don’t think they can move the dates beyond that. If they allow the SAT to be considered ( which is feasible given it’s 2020 and anything can happen), I think it will really throw a wrench in things. Will they allow the student’s highest scores to be used? Spring scores ( where kids get an extra couple of months to prepare?), Winter ( lots of Covid issues).
I’m hoping they stick to original dates. Why don’t they add more schools to space kids out?
You also might check to see if another school nearby would let you sit in on their test date. My son was an online student and since he was technically open-enrolled, our district would not let him take the PSAT there so I contacted a school in a nearby district and they allowed him to take it at that high school with accommodations for his disability. It was very nice of them. Covid-19 might change how welcoming other schools might be, but it could be worth a try.
Our high school In CA has announced that they have moved the PSAT to January.
As of right now, it seems like we will not be holding the PSAT at all, even in January. However, this hasn’t been officially release yet (we got a “future planning” worksheet that told us that “we took the PSAT last year, no need to take it again”.
@1Lotus Thank you for the suggestion. I will see if that is a possibility.
As noted in my reply, they already have.
NEW test day: Tuesday, January 26, 2021
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/k12-educators/psat-nmsqt-dates
“ New January 26, 2021 PSAT/NMSQT administration
The January administration will have the same benefits as the October PSAT/NMSQT, including eligibility for programs administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
All flexible ordering and administering policies for fall testing are extended for the January test date: flexible start times, off-site testing, and testing students across multiple dates. Additionally, schools won’t be charged unused test fees.
We will send schools an email by mid-October when ordering for the January administration is open.”
Someone seems to not understand how National Merit qualifying works.
Cool they moved the date. I think given how crazy things are this year, any date you can get is a bonus. Many kids will likely miss the PSAT. All publics by us have cancelled most tests ( SAT and PSAT) and privates are doing them but limiting to only their students.
The PSAT was cancelled in Chicago last year because of a teachers’ strike. The District arranged for the spring SAT to be the NMF qualifying test. When that was cancelled, the September 2020 test became the qualifier. Perhaps you can get the information to share with your counselor to take another PSAT in January, but I believe it is the district that would have to confirm the new qualifying date with NMSC.
Which September 2020 test became an NMF qualifier for CPS seniors?
@Mwfan1921, CPS students had the option to request consideration during the in-school sitting on September 23. I don’t know about every school in the city, but that is what our kids’ schools instructed them to do.
Thank you all for your guidance.
When I reached out to my counsellor for further information, he said that this was actually a mistake and that our district is planning on offering a January or March PSAT test day.
Mods, feel free to close the discussion.