YMMV- Find Out if You Made NMSF

Paying for College National Merit Aid
1

<p>I have found out a way to get a general idea of whether you made NMSF or not. In many cases, it is indeterminate, but in a couple particular cases, this test will tell you almost certainly that you are not a National Merit Semi-Finalist or that you are a National Merit Semi-Finalist. </p>

<p>So it is known that there are 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists and just shy of 1.6 million JUNIORS that take the PSAT every year. This works out nicely so that the 99th percentile becomes National Merit Semifinalists. This does not take into account the state you live in though. That is where this test comes in.</p>

<p>1.) Take out your PSAT Score Report Plus and look at your percentile compared with college-bound juniors. (Based off of composite score, not subject scores) Take record of it.</p>

<p>2.) You should have recently received an email from College Board titled "Practice for the upcoming SAT with your PSAT/NMSQT results". Click on the link which says "Prep with My College Quickstart and improve your SAT score!" Now log in.</p>

<p>3.) Now examine your state percentiles for each subject and the national percentile for each subject. Take record of them.</p>

<p>If your score was in the 99th percentile nationally (as seen on your score report), and your state percentile is greater than the national percentile for each subject, it is very probable that you made NMSF.</p>

<p>If you scored below the 99th percentile nationally (as seen on your score report), and your state percentile is less than the national percentile for each subject, it is very probable that you DID NOT make NMSF. </p>

<p>All other results are inconclusive, but can still be used for rough estimates. For example, if your score was in the 99th percentile nationally (as seen on your score report), and your state performed worse than the nation in 2 subjects, it is quite likely that you made NMSF.</p>

<p>Note: At the end of the day, these are all estimates though. There are certain assumptions made about each state, one being that all states have similar standards of deviation and their scores are similarly spanned out. However, using this estimate along with past cut-offs can provided a very accurate estimate of your standings.</p>

2

<p>Thank you for this unorthodox way of estimating NMSF status! It is refreshing to find a way that does not involve poring over the past cutoff charts.</p>

3

<p>Interesting, but apparently our state reflects the nation, as S’s percentiles are the same for both the state and nation in every category. Hopefully that means that being in the 99th% as a composite will get him in…</p>

4

<p>213 - 99th nationally
CR 97 state 97 national (71)
Math 99 state 99 national (76)
Writing 92 state 95 national (66)</p>

<p>Does the writing score pretty much mean I missed it?</p>

5

<p>I guess it may be easier by looking at the historical cutoff for your state. If your score is higher than the cutoff in any year (at least the last 5-10 years), then you are very likely to be in.</p>