What if SAT score is less than expected based on PSAT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does "commended" generally appear on the transcript? or is that a school by school issue?

I don't think the school puts either qualification on the transcript.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure how much schools dwell on PSAT and NSMF, but the anomaly for students from this area is that the PSAT score needed to qualify as a NMSF finalist [224 DC, 223 MD, 22 VA] is so much higher than the national average (214.1) that many “commended scholars” from this area actually scored higher than the AVERAGE NMSF finalist (or at least the mean state minimum semifinalist score).Heck, if you live in West Virginia or Wyoming and meet the nationally applicable score (203) to be “commended” you are automatically a finalist. Hey, Harper’s Ferry is less than an hour from the Beltway!

http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2013/12/11/psat-national-merit-scholar-qualifying-scores-and-sat-equivalencies-by-state/#sthash.PVbBmoZN.dpuf

My DCs PSAT was commended but nowhere close to the NMSF score for this area but I think I counted that DC would have been NMSF in 12-15 states. On the plus side at least DC wasn't one point away from NMSF - that would be annoying.

[Anonymous]

Apart from the top tier Ivies, the schools that provide the most non-need based aid to NSMF scholars have the most NMSF scholars - no surprise there:

http://newsok.com/top-10-public-private-schools-with-the-most-national-merit-scholars/article/3609788

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure how much schools dwell on PSAT and NSMF, but the anomaly for students from this area is that the PSAT score needed to qualify as a NMSF finalist [224 DC, 223 MD, 22 VA] is so much higher than the national average (214.1) that many “commended scholars” from this area actually scored higher than the AVERAGE NMSF finalist (or at least the mean state minimum semifinalist score).Heck, if you live in West Virginia or Wyoming and meet the nationally applicable score (203) to be “commended” you are automatically a finalist. Hey, Harper’s Ferry is less than an hour from the Beltway!

http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2013/12/11/psat-national-merit-scholar-qualifying-scores-and-sat-equivalencies-by-state/#sthash.PVbBmoZN.dpuf

My DCs PSAT was commended but nowhere close to the NMSF score for this area but I think I counted that DC would have been NMSF in 12-15 states. On the plus side at least DC wasn't one point away from NMSF - that would be annoying.

I suppose there is no reason to even mention "commended" status if the SAT translates into a higher score than the NMSF cutoff. For example, a 2300 SAT from DC where the 224 NMSF qualifying score translates to 2240.

[Anonymous]

FWIW the "chatter" on the national boards is that the commended cutoff score is DOWN to 201 (from 203 for 2014) for the class of 2015 so the finalist cutoffs are likely to be down a bit too:

https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1580340-class-of-2015-nmsf-qualifying-scores-p50.html

The people reporting this claim to have seen the letter from NMSC to their HS principal.

[Anonymous]

Confirmed: For the Class of 2015 the national Commended Student cutoff score is 201.

http://colrebsez.blogspot.com/2014/04/psat-commended-cutoffs-announced-my-bet.html

Those sitting at 220 may have a chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, it's not at all unusual for a student to get a high PSAT score, then low SAT score, and vice versa.

No, it isn't. I was just reading about this last night because DC brought home good PSAT scores. It's expected that the SAT scores will be higher. Google it.

[Anonymous]

As a commended scholar you have the option of NMSC send your PSAT score and a “recommendation
letter to two schools of your choice. There seems to be considerable angst among those who did better on the SAT or ACT as to whether it is a good idea to send the (comparatively lower) PSAT scores to top choice schools – especially if the top choice schools do not track interest. It seems that that the consensus is that it can’t hurt to have the commendation at ANY school, but it might be more beneficial at a school that tracks interest.

[Anonymous]

Right, don't bother sending it to the Ivies or any high ranking school that doesn't give merit scholarships. Only a few of the highest ranking schools give scholarships to National Merit Finalists, so send the scores to a school that cares about National Merit status.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a commended scholar you have the option of NMSC send your PSAT score and a “recommendation
letter to two schools of your choice. There seems to be considerable angst among those who did better on the SAT or ACT as to whether it is a good idea to send the (comparatively lower) PSAT scores to top choice schools – especially if the top choice schools do not track interest. It seems that that the consensus is that it can’t hurt to have the commendation at ANY school, but it might be more beneficial at a school that tracks interest.

I'm pretty sure they dropped that this year. My DC was commended and this was no longer an option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a commended scholar you have the option of NMSC send your PSAT score and a “recommendation
letter to two schools of your choice. There seems to be considerable angst among those who did better on the SAT or ACT as to whether it is a good idea to send the (comparatively lower) PSAT scores to top choice schools – especially if the top choice schools do not track interest. It seems that that the consensus is that it can’t hurt to have the commendation at ANY school, but it might be more beneficial at a school that tracks interest.

I'm pretty sure they dropped that this year. My DC was commended and this was no longer an option.

then what's the point of "commended?"

[Anonymous]

Commended means next to nothing at this point.

[Anonymous]

OP, it's not at all unusual for a student to get a high PSAT score, then low SAT score, and vice versa.



No, it isn't. I was just reading about this last night because DC brought home good PSAT scores. It's expected that the SAT scores will be higher. Google it.

You can expect anything you like, but the PP is correct. It isn't unusual to have a high PSAT and a low SAT score, or vice versa. There are too many factors to consider for every testing session so nothing is guaranteed, no matter what is expected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, it's not at all unusual for a student to get a high PSAT score, then low SAT score, and vice versa.

No, it isn't. I was just reading about this last night because DC brought home good PSAT scores. It's expected that the SAT scores will be higher. Google it.

It really depends on when/if you do prep. Kids who prep before the PSATs are less likely to see a bump.

In my DCs case the verbal score dropped (from 80/800 to mid 700s -is hard to get an 800 on verbal portion of the SAT so it was bound to go down) but went up nearly 100 points in math.

[Anonymous]

Though I understand it’s rare, would the value of a NMSF PSAT score be diminished by a sub part SAT score? Say, DC scored 224 on the PSAT, but only 2100 on the SAT? Is that still better than someone who scored 210 on the PSAT and 2240 on the SAT?