<p>IIRC, National Merit semi-finalist designation is awarded to the top 1-3/4% or so of PSAT scorers in each state. The PSAT score cutoffs for each state required to achieve National Merit semi-finalist designation in a given year have been posted on CC from time to time. IIRC Arkansas PSAT cutoffs are usually among the lowest in the whole country.</p>
<p>In fairness though, there are some regions of the country where a smaller % of students take SATs at all, ACT is king, for in-region colleges. Maybe they don’t take PSATs as much then either. Also people headed to a state school that only requires ACT would be less likely to be taking prep courses to score higher on SAT, hence PSAT. Meaning there are other explanations for lower top PSAT scorers, besides relative stupidity of your state populace.</p>
<p>Though this possibility has not been eliminated…</p>
<p>Edit: Just checked ,this is from elsewhere on CC:</p>
<p>Qualifying scores for the Class of 2009 National Merit Semifinalists:
Alabama 209
Alaska 212
Arizona 209
Arkansas 204
California 217
Colorado 213
Connecticut 218
Delaware 219
District of Columbia 221
Florida 211
Georgia 215
Hawaii 216
Idaho 208
Illinois 214
Indiana 213
Iowa 210
Kansas 211
Kentucky 209
Louisiana 208
Maine 212
Maryland 220
Massachusetts 221
Michigan 209
Minnesota 214
Mississippi 201
Missouri 213
Montana 208
Nebraska 206
Nevada 206
New Hampshire 211
New Jersey 220
New Mexico 209
New York 216
North Carolina 215
North Dakota 201
Ohio 213
Oklahoma 208
Oregon 213
Pennsylvania 213
Rhode Island 213
South Carolina 212
South Dakota 205
Tennessee 213
Texas 215
Utah 203
Vermont 213
Virginia 219
Washington 217
West Virginia 203
Wisconsin 210
Wyoming 201
International 221
U.S. Territories 201</p>