<p>My daughter just got her PSAT results. Her form has an Asterisk saying she is not qualified for National Merit. My other child was a National Merit finalist so I'm very familiar with the process. I know in our state, she did not make the cut of what she would need to make the Semi Finalist standing (she got a 215, and our state is always around 220), but I know she is well over the 200-203 average needed for Commended. I know the Commended doesn't warrant any money, but is still nice for her to have. Why would she have an Asterisk? My understanding is that means she is not eligible. She is a junior, took the test in school, etc. Thoughts???</p>
<p>@bsmom123…Since she is a junior, it’s more than likely simply a bubbling error on her personal information when she took the test. It could be the graduation year or some other number that got mis-bubbled. If you call NMSC at (847) 866-5100 they should be able to get it straightened out for you/her. Hopefully things will break her way with your state cutoff score, but in any case she’ll definitely be Commended and 215 is a great score. Congrats to you and her!!</p>
<p>She shouldn’t have an asterisk. The fact that she won’t make NMSF isn’t relevant at this point. The asterisk is given when the student wouldn’t likely make Commended, yet she will (I think top 5% or something like that?)</p>
<p>So…the GC needs to explore what went wrong…did she bubble in that she’s a sophomore? Did she not bubble in that she’s a full time student (my son did that and the GC had to contact NMCorp to correct.) He too, had an asterisk when he shouldn’t have had…and he did make NMSF/NMF when that time came.</p>
<p>There is an error somewhere. Maybe she didn’t indicate that she’s a citizen?</p>