National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son scored a 1560 on the SAT at age 14. I didn't realize he could submit that and he missed national merit by a point based on his 11th grade PSAT. Don't be him. Know the loopholes.

Also agree, this is just stupid that the qualifying score varies by state. Totally unfair for an exam that is supposed to "level the playing field" and provide an :objective assessment".

I cannot deal with the stupidity of college admissions anymore!

They allowed SAT submission for anyone during covid (it used to be allowed only if the student was sick on psat testing day). It messed with the numbers, so it’s not clear if they’ll allow it in the future.

https://www.compassprep.com/national-merit-semifinalist-cutoffs/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In addition to each state having different cutoffs, it’s annoying that the verbal score counts twice but math only once. It will in many cases lead to two kids who have the same PSAT score with one being semi finalist and the other commended.

Three scores used in the calculation: reading, writing/language and math

I looked this up, because I was a NMS, and remember one of my friends being mad because they had the exact same score, except reversed, and was not because they doubled the verbal section and not the math. It turns out that they used to just double the verbal score, but now they have two “verbal” sections that each count as much as the math section, so verbal still gets more weight.

https://www.compassprep.com/psat-national-merit-faq/comment-page-1/

Why is the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (ERW) twice as important as the Math?
The emphasis on “verbal” skills has a long history with the NMSP. Even when there was no Writing section on the PSAT or SAT, the Verbal section was doubled and added to the Math score for a 60–240 Selection Index range. Also, College Board considers Reading and Writing and Language to be separate tests.. In short, the “doubling” is nothing new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this just irritates me. my kid would qualify if in Florida, but we're in California

Locally, DC is one of the hardest too because it’s lumped in with Maryland.

Yes MD usually outperforms VA on academics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son scored a 1560 on the SAT at age 14. I didn't realize he could submit that and he missed national merit by a point based on his 11th grade PSAT. Don't be him. Know the loopholes.

Also agree, this is just stupid that the qualifying score varies by state. Totally unfair for an exam that is supposed to "level the playing field" and provide an :objective assessment".

I cannot deal with the stupidity of college admissions anymore!

They allowed SAT submission for anyone during covid (it used to be allowed only if the student was sick on psat testing day). It messed with the numbers, so it’s not clear if they’ll allow it in the future.

https://www.compassprep.com/national-merit-semifinalist-cutoffs/

They allow SAT submission if it is impossible to take the test. For some during covid, it was impossible (no tests offered in some counties), for others it wasn't. If student can prove hardship that they could not sit the exam, NMSC will allow an alternate submission of SAT within a certain timeframe.

[Anonymous]

Does National Merit semifinalist help college application to a TOP 10 this fall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this just irritates me. my kid would qualify if in Florida, but we're in California

Locally, DC is one of the hardest too because it’s lumped in with Maryland.

Yes MD usually outperforms VA on academics

DC outperformed every state except it is tied with NJ.