<p>i'm a junior stressed about the psats. i live in california. are the qualifications for national merit higher? i've heard people say that you have to be SPECTACULAR at it where as if you live in like north dakota, you don't have to achieve as high of a score. is this true?</p>
<p>Yes, the cutoff this year for CA was 217, cutoff generally run from 200 to the low- and mid-220s, so CA is up there in terms of cutoff scores. You can see the cutoffs for all the states for this year if you go to 'SAT and ACT Tests & Test Preparation' and go through a page or two.</p>
<p>I just checked last year's (Fall 2007) PSAt score for California and it is 217. It will likely be close to that the year that you take the PSAT.</p>
<p>That is the equivalent of getting a 2170 on the SAT, which means like you would get 700 (out of 800 possible) in math, 700 (out of 800) in critical reading and then 770 (out of 800) on the writing.</p>
<p>Yeah, those scores are hard to make, all right. Only about 250 or so kids in California make those or else higher scores. </p>
<p>If you get 200 on the PSAT, you automatically get commended at the national level. Then depending on the state you live in, the National Merit semi-finalist cutoff does fluctuate, starting low like around I don't know maybe 205 for Mississippi, on up to 222 for Massachusetts.</p>
<p>My d made national merit semi-finalist in our state, and there aren't that many rewards for doing so. You get in-state tuition to several colleges, or else a few free rides to lower-tier colleges. It used to be that you got a 'free ride' to several really good colleges, like Rice University, but no longer. So making natioinal merit finalist is nice, but not all that useful anymore.</p>
<p>Just wanted you to keep things in perspective.</p>
<p>I have to believe that more than 250 juniors in CA will break 217...maybe more like 2500</p>
<p>i would have to agree with you choklit rain</p>
<p>since the cutoff this year was 217, can i assume that next year it will be 218? or will it stay at 217 or even go down to 216</p>
<p>I don't think you can assume that the cutoff will go up 1 point for sure, but I do think it's safe to assume the the cutoff will be between 214 and 220. I can't say for sure off of the top of my head, but I don't remember any of the states' cutoffs jumping up or down any more than 3 points from last year to this year.</p>
<p>so for the most part the states' scores are constant?</p>
<p>i don't think it's fair. i get like 210 on practice tests and in most other states i would get national merit but for california i can't be certain.</p>
<p>
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so for the most part the states' scores are constant?
[/Quote]
Somewhat, but not really. Some states are as low as 203 (like MS) while others are as high as 223 (MA/CT).
Here in TX it's 218 as of last year, so I know what you mean. I'm pretty close to NMS, so I'm hoping for the best. :)</p>