Hi everyone, I know there is a lot out there about the new PSAT scores and the cutoff for national merit. I guess no one will really know for sure until September, but I was still wondering what people think about a 1460 (SI 216) in the state of Washington. I feel like this is right on the border but still not sure. Thanks!
A 216 should be good enough for every State, on the new scoring system. The new scale has a max score of 228, as opposed to the 240 of the previous system. All the State cutoff scores will be NUMERICALLY lower (not performance lower), despite all the crazy speculation currently going on at CC on this matter.
The answer is no one knows until September.
It seems that it’s right around the border for WA.
It’s a common misconception that the new NMSF cutoff score should be lower since the max is 228 instead of 240. Since the new PSAT questions are easier, there are a lot of tied scores north of 220. I am prepared to see most states with the cutoff score north of 220.
It’s a scaled score. In an ideal scenario, the difficulty of the test is completely irrelevant to the scores. A 99th percentile on the hardest PSAT ever should have approximately the same SI as the easiest PSAT ever.
@gusmahler , totally agree with you. To all test takers or concerned parents, you should be happy if you got 99%tiles in both National Rep and Your User. That 's a good indicator for NMF (70% to 80%). Do not trouble yourselves too much about cutoff scores - since we will know that info by Sept 2016
@PrimeNumber2 That’s very subjective. A lot of students at my school thought the new PSAT questions were harder. And I don’t think there was one 220+ SI at my school (I live in CA). So its impossible to tell what the cut-off will be since some schools (like mine) will barely see 1 or 2 1400+ scoring students and other schools (like you described), have many scores north of 220+.
From the below list of CA NMSF list, I am guessing there are over 1,700 NM Semifinalists from CA every year.
http://collegeadmissions.testmasters.com/update-psat-scores-cut-national-merit-2016/
These guys present two different projections. Under one method, a 216 in WA is in. In the other method, it comes up a little bit short.
If you hit the 99th percentile nationally and are from WA, you have chance. Since no one really knows how this will actually work out.
Question…I am reading and reading about the New PSAT and I am trying to figure out all the new information. My question is…we are in Texas and Texas seems to have a high NMSC scores in the past. My son is a Junior and took the test in Oct 2015. Just got his scores and I am looking at a 1460 total and the a NMSC score of 221. Is he close to being a semi finalist? If so, we need to prepare for picking a college faster than we thought. Please help with any and all information. I am a very confusion parent here.
@Tgirlfriend Yes he is likely to make a semi finalist in Texas.
So my dd got a 36 on ACT. She got a 217 in CA. Borderline on NMSF??? So we have decided to not take the SAT UNLESS she gets NMSF----which then she has to take it to confirm score. Can she take it in November or December of this year once we find out cutoff in September IF she qualifies? Or is that too late?? Thank you for any thoughts or opinions…
@hcmom65 she should be able to take in Oct. or Nov. October was the traditional test date when I was in HS (in those days NO ONE took the SAT in jr. year, let alone sophomore LOL). December is cutting it close because everything including confirming score must be in to NMSC by 12/31. Any score delay would compromise meeting that deadline.
Don’t take it until the fall - November is your best bet. You can take it in Nov.
Why not just take it now to eliminate any stress? She’s obviously a good test taker, and you don’t have to submit it. You never know what can come up to thwart your plans. I’ve heard about illness, concussions, or (as happened to my son for his subject test) accidentally leaving the test ticket at home. Or there are tests that get tossed due to irregularities forcing kids to sit another test. That’s happened a couple times in the past year at our test site. No need to have that stress.
@Googlestoomuch Hcchild has 36 on ACT so she is done with testing. The only reason for her to take SAT would be if she becomes an NMSF and if she wants to qualify for NMF. There is a chance that she may not make an NMSF. In addition, even if she makes it, if she plans to go to a highly selective college, she may just want to skip the SAT since NMF is not worth much in that case.
These are very good reasons to hold off until September to consider SAT.
@Googlestoomuch the issue is that YES she may to submit it. Some schools require you to submit ALL test scores. If she has a perfect 36 on ACT and doesn’t seem to do that well on SAT for some reason, that would not be great. I think she will end up taking it in october or november, IF she makes the cut off.
Thank you @payn4ward ! Those are my reasons. A 217 could be right on the borderline of making NMSF. If she doesn’t, then no reason to even chance taking it. And, my dd does not want to just take the SAT. She would want to study and prep (just like she did for the ACT) to get the best score. That takes time. In her mind, she is done…unless the national merit thing. And, many colleges she wants to go to require all standarize testing be submitted - APs, SAT subject tests, SAT and ACT. thank you!! 
Are you sure about that? Which schools make you submit both? And how would they even know you took both since the scores come from separate testing companies? Taking both to see which you are better at has been the strategy most kids I know use precisely because you don’t have to send both. Have I missed something with certain schools?
@Googlestoomuch
Only a few colleges do so.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/16886557/#Comment_16886557
At least for Yale, if you want to submit AP and SAT Subject scores, you will have to also submit SAT 1 scores.