What score do you need to be a merit scholar?

[Anonymous]

My 10th grader scored 1260 and surprisingly put him in 96th percentile. He told me PSAT is out of 1520, not 1600.

[Anonymous]

Depends on your state.

[Anonymous]

I assumed you had to get like 1550. We live in VA.

[Anonymous]

You have to look at the selection index and not the overall score.
SI= (Math + 2*English)/10

The VA cutoff is estimated to be in the 220-223 range. My child got a 224, so I hope she's safe for NMSF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assumed you had to get like 1550. We live in VA.

1520 is the highest possible score on the PSAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assumed you had to get like 1550. We live in VA.

1520 is the highest possible score on the PSAT.

So probably around 1470?

I don’t expect my kid to be a scholar. I’m just curious what he would need as a junior to be one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assumed you had to get like 1550. We live in VA.

1520 is the highest possible score on the PSAT.

So probably around 1470?

I don’t expect my kid to be a scholar. I’m just curious what he would need as a junior to be one.

It depends on the English vs. math score. A kid with a 1490, 730 in English and 760 in math would have a SI of 222, which is probably not good enough in VA. A kid with a 1470, 760 in English and 710 in math would have a SI of 223, which likely is high enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10th grader scored 1260 and surprisingly put him in 96th percentile. He told me PSAT is out of 1520, not 1600.

96%ile among 10th graders.

96%ile on 11th is almost high enough for Commended.

99%ile in 11th for SemiFinalist/Finalist

But remember that this "scholarship"s program is just a scam to sell expensive tests.

https://research.collegeboard.org/reports/sat-suite/understanding-scores/psat-nmsqt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10th grader scored 1260 and surprisingly put him in 96th percentile. He told me PSAT is out of 1520, not 1600.

With that score the highest possible selection index would be 198. That would be if he scored 720 on English and 540 on Math. The states with the lowest selection index are around 208 most years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assumed you had to get like 1550. We live in VA.

1520 is the highest possible score on the PSAT.

So probably around 1470?

I don’t expect my kid to be a scholar. I’m just curious what he would need as a junior to be one.

It depends on the English vs. math score. A kid with a 1490, 730 in English and 760 in math would have a SI of 222, which is probably not good enough in VA. A kid with a 1470, 760 in English and 710 in math would have a SI of 223, which likely is high enough.

Huh??
Why is that not good enough in VA? VA is usually average between 219-222.
222 is the highest they have been.

[Anonymous]

Check this site:

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

[Anonymous]

Depends greatly on which state you are in. And, as a previous poster mentioned, what you get in verbal vs. math. In some states, you have to be above the 99th percentile to be a SF, and in others you can be below the 99th percentile.

FWIW, my kid got a 1250 in 10th grade and a 1450 in 11th grade (SI 219, good enough for SF in 35 states but not ours).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assumed you had to get like 1550. We live in VA.

1520 is the highest possible score on the PSAT.

So probably around 1470?

I don’t expect my kid to be a scholar. I’m just curious what he would need as a junior to be one.

It depends on the English vs. math score. A kid with a 1490, 730 in English and 760 in math would have a SI of 222, which is probably not good enough in VA. A kid with a 1470, 760 in English and 710 in math would have a SI of 223, which likely is high enough.

Huh??
Why is that not good enough in VA? VA is usually average between 219-222.
222 is the highest they have been.

Compassprep predicts a cutoff of 222 for VA, but I've also heard that scores are trending even higher than expected, so all of the cutoffs might be around the top end of their predicted range, which for VA is a 223. If your kid has a 222, I hope it works out for them! It's a great score!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assumed you had to get like 1550. We live in VA.

1520 is the highest possible score on the PSAT.

So probably around 1470?

I don’t expect my kid to be a scholar. I’m just curious what he would need as a junior to be one.

It depends on the English vs. math score. A kid with a 1490, 730 in English and 760 in math would have a SI of 222, which is probably not good enough in VA. A kid with a 1470, 760 in English and 710 in math would have a SI of 223, which likely is high enough.

Huh??
Why is that not good enough in VA? VA is usually average between 219-222.
222 is the highest they have been.

Compassprep predicts a cutoff of 222 for VA, but I've also heard that scores are trending even higher than expected, so all of the cutoffs might be around the top end of their predicted range, which for VA is a 223. If your kid has a 222, I hope it works out for them! It's a great score!

Is it by high school or by state?

Would it be different from McLean vs Alexandria to be a scholar or commended?

[Anonymous]

^It’s by state