National Merit semi-finalist state cut offs
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Anonymous
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Still waiting for the DC cut off number for my son...all the materials were sent to schools last week per NMSF folks, and College Confidential has parents reporting from a ton of states if their kids got notified and what their score was. Anyone have a child in a DC school who got notified that they made it and is willing to anonymously share the score? My son who is in one of the Big 3 is on the bubble and is looking at a college where NMF makes a huge $ difference. ?
Sincerely, A mom who can't wait for this whole process to be over? |
Anonymous
My daughter is in a VA school with a 222 and her principal told us she's on the list today - sorry that I can't help with DC schools  Good luck to your son!
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Anonymous
| You came to the wrong place if you are looking for the warm, sharing types, OP! There are moms here who talk down schools so that some people get discouraged from accepting and more spots open up. Just saying... |
Anonymous
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Not sure if this is helpful but last year the cut off was 222 in VA, 223 in MD and 224 in DC. I suspect at least DC stays the same this year.
The commended score last year was 203. |
Anonymous
NP here - the commended score this year is 201, and so far every state (including CA, NY and TX) that people have posted about on CC has gone down at least 1 point. No one there - and they are all pretty on top of this, believe me- expects any state to stay the same. Everyone predicts at least a 1 pt drop across the board - so, OP, your son on the bubble most likely will make it! But I'd wait for real confirmation 
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Anonymous
The commended score dropped two points from last year. Also, in many states, the semifinalist score was the highest ever, so many hope the cut offs will drop this year. I have read that the Fall 2012 test had been an easier test and that Fall 2013 was supposed to be more difficult, thus the lower Commended cutoff. Any other word from Va or Md? |
Anonymous
| My neighbor in MD has a son in MCPS with a 225, and he was told he was a NMSF, but didn't seem like a real nail biter with that score ? if the commended score dropped 2 points and last year all the states (especially VA) when up a point or two, I would expect the cut offs to all come back a little. Good luck, OP! Our daughter's school (also a Big 3) told the kids not to worry about NM when taking the PSATs because it wouldn't matter to most schools they would apply to. Horrible advice IMO, but who am I to say...we just write out the checks? |
Anonymous
Virginia's score went up five points last year, from 217 to 222! |
Anonymous
Wow!! Can't imagine that one year jump is the new norm! |
Anonymous
This is also the advice our private school gave to its students. As a result, my child did not prepare in any way for the PSAT and earned a very good score (99%ile nationally), but not good enough for DC's NMSF cutoff. DC did bounce back with an excellent SAT score, but with an anticipated minimum of 10-12 NMSF in their graduating class, I do worry how this will impact the college admissions process. |
Anonymous
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99% nationally might be enough too make the DC cut off, you never know! Definitely sounds like your child will get Commended anyway
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Anonymous
Game theory? |
Anonymous
LOL!! But seriously, it's nice to read some helpful posts that show we DCUM parents do support each other....sometimes
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Anonymous
I think you have to be 99.5% and DC is aligned with the highest states so 99% may not do it. |
Anonymous
| The percentages given on the score report are not the percentages of the PSAT your child took - they are from the year before (the high cut off year). The PSAT folks changed the wording so it now says that the percentages you see are from the year before. |