<p>I’m excited as well. I think I’ve got a very good shot at it (our cutoff was only 212 this year.) Looking at other states’ cutoffs makes me feel a bit guilty.</p>
<p>Can anyone else confirm that 2000+ is the required SAT score to advance to Finalist? I’ve seen that number tossed around, but I wanted to be sure.</p>
<p>As a sophomore, I’m curious more than anything.</p>
<p>It’s worth mentioning that PSAT scores are a poor indicator of your SAT score, mainly because they omit the essay from the Writing section and all the hard questions from the mathematics section. Plus, I remember the test only having like 5 sections, so the test is also easier time-wise. Really, it ends up indicating very little of one’s actual SAT score.</p>
<p>hey guys, I’m a semi-finalist from last year and the PSAT score is one of the many hoops you’ll have to jump thru to get the scholarship, which is not that substantial in the first place. I think the main purpose is just to put national merit on your resume, but a perfect score (like mine) won’t necessarily get you $$$$$$$$$$$ good luck!</p>
<p>@Grisam - yeah the PSAT won’t tell you your SAT score - People with really low PSAT scores junior year can get 2300+, I got an 80 on my PSAT CR, and yet I can’t seem to break the 700 mark on the SAT. Also, I don’t think your SAT’s have to be 2000+ in order to be a finalist - they just wanna make sure that your SAT score isn’t like an 1800 when you’re PSAT score is a 220, that’s all.</p>
<p>May I point out that practicing SAT questions for the PSAT helps?
Well, it did for me, especially CR and grammar.</p>
<p>I know so many kids at my school will be blaming the small earthquake we had in the middle of the test as the reason they don’t make the cutoff. I can’t wait to see it happen.
But seriously, we had a 4.7 earthquake during the first section. It was so cool!</p>
<p>^Lol I love that.</p>
<p>This idiot of a freshman was cheating off of other people around him during the test so I spent about half of my time imagining how to kill him. Of course, I thought he was a junior at that time so…</p>
<p>Pretty much if I don’t make this…coughcoughcough.</p>
<p>Not to brag, but I’m pretty sure I made the CA cutoff for NMSF, so the only reason I want to know is so that I can rub it in the faces of a particular senior who thinks I couldn’t have scored higher than he did (he’s a good friend of mine, but he’s just like that sometimes). I mean, he was a NMSF with a 222, but I’m pretty sure I scored over 230.</p>
<p>But, we haven’t gotten our scores until January the past 2 years. Anyone have suggestions as to how I get my counselor to tell me? Maybe tell her that I’m applying for a summer program and I need my PSAT scores now for my application?</p>
<p>^Your conselour wouldn’t just tell you if you asked?</p>
<p>^Ehh, I’d want to give her a good reason to go through the hassle to go find out. I imagine they don’t wait until January to pass them out (which is when they do) if they receive them in November.</p>
<p>Well, doesn’t USC give half tuition scholarships for National Merit? I think that’s pretty substantial…</p>
<p>I don’t find out until beginning of January. T_T</p>
<p>Oh well. It doesn’t count for me, so I’ll just see my score when it comes.</p>
<p>Is there a way to find out online? my school tells us like january</p>
<p>^ If there is, I need to know as well.</p>
<p>Is a 200 a good score?</p>
<p>^ It’s good, not great. About 96 percentile for juniors.</p>
<p>FYI…National Merit can mean HUGE $$$ for you, depending on which universities you’re interested in attending. There are several great threads in the Financial Aid forums that have listings of schools with automatic merit scholarships for National Merit Finalists. If nothing else these are fantastic financial safety schools in the event you don’t get accepted at your dream school or perhaps aren’t in a financial situation to attend your dream school. The University of Alabama (as one example) offers a full-ride scholarship for both IS and OOS students, including a laptop allowance for your freshman year and a stipend for one semester of undergraduate research or study abroad and guaranteed acceptance into the Honors program. These aren’t competitive scholarships…they’re guaranteed with NMF status. For those asking about various state cutoffs, you can Google search and find out what the cutoffs have been in previous years. They don’t tend to vary much over the years. Bottom line, it’s worth a heck of a lot more than a one-time $2500 scholarship. D1 is a NMSF (Finalists won’t be named until February) and is already sitting on full-ride (NMF pending) scholarship offers from Alabama and near full-ride from Auburn. Great feeling to have while waiting to hear from all her other schools!!!</p>
<p>^^I scored 96th percentile on the ACT, so I’m thinking I scored somewhere around a 200 on the PSAT.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to a site with this past year’s state cutoff scores.</p>
<p>[National</a> Merit Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.collegeplanningsimplified.com/NationalMerit.html]National”>http://www.collegeplanningsimplified.com/NationalMerit.html)</p>
<p>That VA cutoff… damn.</p>