<p>When MUST you take the SAT if you are in the running as a National Merit Semifinalist to be a National Merit Finalist.</p>
<p>I assume my son is commended, we got the letter, but we don't know if he'll be a National Merit Semifinalist. He's on the cusp of previous year's cutoffs.</p>
<p>He's taken the SAT twice already, Oct of Junior Year, and now May of Senior Year. His scores dropped on the second testing on his writing, from 730 to 660. His CR stayed the same, 690. His math went from 680 to 690. So his overall with writing went from a 2100 to a 2040. I think his first time was good because there was no stress involved, just a practice run.</p>
<p>Because of swim season in the fall, it may be difficult for him to take the SAT again, but my husband keeps insisting that he must take it his Senior year to count for National Merit.</p>
<p>This is important because a lot of neighboring states will give free tuition to OOS national merits, and sometimes even other perks, like room and board and study abroad and even books. I'm not sure if this applies to NMSF or only NMFs. Because we're on that cusp, that may make a difference.</p>
<p>Can anyone give me any insight on this?</p>
<p>I think since they took the SAT already and it was over 2000 you are good</p>
<p>I can answer this. 
My daughter is a NMF. She knew when she got her NMQSAT scores back in Dec of her junior year that she would be a NMSF. She took the SAT in both March and May of her junior year and was done. She took no SATs senior year. </p>
<p>The only concern might be that the score on the SAT needs to be high enough to merit that move from semi-finalist to finalist, and I have no idea what that score might be. The SAT has to be high enough to confirm that the qualifying score was not just a lucky accident. (In my daughter’s case, she made a 2270 on the first SAT and a 2300 on the second. She only took the SAT a second time because some of the schools to which she applied “superscored” - and she wanted that option.)</p>
<p>My daughter got the letter and should have a shot at being a semifinalist and hopefully a finalist. Last year’s Illinois cut off was 214 for SF. She had a 217 PSAT and a 2190 SAT. I was not going to have her retake it as I figured her SAT score was consistent with her PSAT score. Do you think this is good enough?</p>
<p>Son’s PSAT was 207. As his first SAT was 2100, he was disappointed in the 207, as he thought he might score a 210 PSAT. Now his second SAT is 2040, so I guess if you average the two, his PSAT is on target. </p>
<p>Louisiana’s NM cutoff is somewhere around 206 to 208, so we really are right on the cusp.</p>
<p>Interesting thought, to see if it’s a fluke.</p>
<p>Some real slackers got 227s on the PSAT. They’re going to get full rides to the state and even some neighboring state schools, even though they barely do their homework, and have little to no ECs. But it’s all about the numbers at some schools.</p>
<p>Montegut, the cutoff for LA jumped 2 points from 2008 to 2009. Amazing.</p>
<p>[National</a> Merit Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.collegeplanningsimplified.com/NationalMerit.html]National”>http://www.collegeplanningsimplified.com/NationalMerit.html)</p>
<p>I can’t find the link but I remember reading the SAT should be taken in either junior or senior year so your son should be fine with his scores. I have never seen anything official but have read you need a score comparable to the “commended” score (i.e. 200 or 2000) to qualify.</p>
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<p>I think so - I think that the SAT needs to be at least in the ballpark of the qualifying score, if not higher - though please note the words “I think.” </p>
<p>Since it looks like your daughter will qualify as a NMSF, remind her not to take the paperwork that she has to complete lightly. She will have a five hundred word essay to write about herself delineating what her interests are now, etc. My daughter’s essay was really good, but I think she scurried through other sections where she had to list awards and extracurricular activities. Understandable as a hurricane was blowing into town and she wanted to turn the paperwork in ASAP and not have to worry about it. Still I think that time - if you have the time to spend 
- spent on that paperwork is at least as important as time spent on the college apps. (In my daughter’s case, her school gave her the paperwork and she had to return everything except the essay by the end of the week. She wrote the essay first though and then hurried through the rest when it looked like Hurricane Ike would hit town. However, her counselor seemed pleased to have the essay early as she said it would help her write her rec.)</p>
<p>First, as stated earlier, you do NOT have to take the SAT in your senior year. For those who haven’t taken it, though, you need to take it by the early December date (that was the case for 2008). If named a NMSF, you get a letter telling you what you need to do and when to do it by (tests and other requirements).</p>
<p>Second, your SAT score should confirm that the PSAT score was legitimate. NMSC does not specify exactly what that means, though. If it’s higher (SAT divided by 10), no problem. If it’s lower, but above the PSAT cutoff for your state, no problem. If it’s within 30 or 40 points of the cutoff, it’s statistically likely that you could have reached it on a different day, so I THINK you’d be OK. Below that, and there MAY be an issue. I’d recommend anyone in that situation contact NMSC to get their feedback. 15,000 of the 16,000 semifinalists reach finalist stage, and I think the majority of those not making it are due to poor grades or not meeting deadlines. Some are from poor recs or bad SAT scores, but those would be less common.</p>
<p>For the OP, your son’s previous tests are likely fine - no need to take them again, particularly since the writing score is the most variable from the PSAT to the SAT (and from SAT to SAT as well). He will need to be a NMF to get those great scholarship offers, though, and generally needs to name a “first choice” school with NMSC by April 1st to qualify for that school’s offer (so for NMSC scholarship purposes, your deadline to pick a school to qualify for a full ride is usually a month earlier than for most acceptance decisions).</p>