Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:44     Subject: Re:National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:Has the index score threshold for NMSF ever been that high before? I don’t remember hearing 226 in the past. Is the source reporting this reputable?


I had never been that high. I believe the previous record was 224, but I can't find any proof. The highest it goes back currently reported on compass press is 223 that I see
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:34     Subject: National merit 2026?
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Anonymous wrote:I personally think having different cutoffs for different states is bogus. Why should one kid be a NMSF with a 212 while a kid with a 222 in another state is not?


Because some states/school districts have a lot more resources. I personally think the current approach is fair.

Last year, students from Title 1 schools in Massachusetts had to score 222 to be semifinalists, and private school students in the wealthiest Mississippi enclaves only had to score 209.


My kid in public school in NJ got a 219 and won't qualify for SF, but if she instead had gone to the private high school in TN that I attended, she would have. How is that right?


Your kid is not in top 1% in NJ but would be in top 1% in TN. Why is that wrong?


Because state cutoffs are inherently arbitrary.


it's not. top 1%. nothing arbitrary about it. you are just upset b/c your kid didn't make the cut and i can understand that

The wealthiest kids in Charleston, who benefit from every advantage, can score lower than a large majority of semifinalists from other states and still make the semifinalist cutoff; meanwhile, kids growing up in poverty in Baltimore can achieve excellence against all odds, score higher than 99.5% of all test takers, and still not get semifinalist status. Pretending that everyone in the same state has a level playing field is ridiculous.


Problems off the field don't make the playing field unlevel.

Tell that to NMSC, who has to vary the index cutoff by state in order to have geographic diversity among their winners.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:33     Subject: National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:My son has a 225 in MD and to be honest the idea that it jumped to 226 is totally throwing me off here. It’s making me re-think if we are being too optimistic about his chances at safeties, targets, and reaches. This just feels so unexpected and outside what we imagined was possible.

It isn’t so much about NMSF, although it would have been nice, but this has shaken our confident in his chances overall even at schools that should be easy safeties. A 225 score felt totally safe for MD NMSF but wasn’t.


I relate strongly to this. I know my kid is a string student and I also know admissions has gotten madly competitive. I thought it was worth trying to some very selective schools even so—but now I’m second guessing if we have judged correctly.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:26     Subject: National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was a NMF back in the early 90’s, when it might have meant more for college admissions. I’ve done ok, typical law career trajectory- but many in my high school class who didn’t get National Merit recognition went on to achieve more academically and professionally. My point is, it really didn’t matter back then and probably matters even less now.


It didn't mean anything then either.

I don’t know about Finalist status, but colleges loved bragging about how many National Merit Scholars they’d enrolled. I don’t think it helped with admissions at most schools because admissions weren’t so damn competitive then. Maybe it helped with admissions at the most elite schools, but otherwise, back then, kids who’d earned NMS status were already going to be admitted at most schools.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:23     Subject: National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I personally think having different cutoffs for different states is bogus. Why should one kid be a NMSF with a 212 while a kid with a 222 in another state is not?


Because some states/school districts have a lot more resources. I personally think the current approach is fair.

Last year, students from Title 1 schools in Massachusetts had to score 222 to be semifinalists, and private school students in the wealthiest Mississippi enclaves only had to score 209.


My kid in public school in NJ got a 219 and won't qualify for SF, but if she instead had gone to the private high school in TN that I attended, she would have. How is that right?


Your kid is not in top 1% in NJ but would be in top 1% in TN. Why is that wrong?


Because state cutoffs are inherently arbitrary.


it's not. top 1%. nothing arbitrary about it. you are just upset b/c your kid didn't make the cut and i can understand that

The wealthiest kids in Charleston, who benefit from every advantage, can score lower than a large majority of semifinalists from other states and still make the semifinalist cutoff; meanwhile, kids growing up in poverty in Baltimore can achieve excellence against all odds, score higher than 99.5% of all test takers, and still not get semifinalist status. Pretending that everyone in the same state has a level playing field is ridiculous.


Problems off the field don't make the playing field unlevel.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:22     Subject: National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I personally think having different cutoffs for different states is bogus. Why should one kid be a NMSF with a 212 while a kid with a 222 in another state is not?


Because some states/school districts have a lot more resources. I personally think the current approach is fair.


I think that the system is generally fair. As a public school teacher in DC, I think that DC's scores are inflated by kids who come into DC for private school from MD and VA. I think it's hard when there are lower income kids in DC whose score would get them NMSF in almost every other state, who don't get NMSF, in state tuition, or in state financial aid. I know a kid like this whose scores would have qualified in any state except DC, NJ, and MA, and who would have qualified in DC if their scores were flipped.


How is that "generally fair"?


As someone who lives in MD, where there are more opportunities. I think it's fair that our cut off is set higher than South Dakota, because it's about exceeding the norm for your community.

My guess is that DC has a higher percentage of out of state kids earning NMSF than any other state. If you look at the list of who won, it's a lot of kids from Sidwell, GDS, St. Anselm's etc. . . and a high percentage of those kids don't live in DC. So, I think that that is unfair for kids from DC. I think the cut off should be based on the percentiles of kids who live in DC.

I also think that when the high cut off is combined with the lack of instate options in DC, and an extremely unfair DC TAG program that is designed to help MC and UMC kids, but that doesn't address the fact that state schools generally don't give financial aid to low income kids who are OOS, I think it is unfair for kids from DC.

Given that DC makes up 0.2% of the population, I would describe a system that is fair for everyone but 0.2% of the population as "generally fair".


Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:21     Subject: National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I personally think having different cutoffs for different states is bogus. Why should one kid be a NMSF with a 212 while a kid with a 222 in another state is not?


Because some states/school districts have a lot more resources. I personally think the current approach is fair.

Last year, students from Title 1 schools in Massachusetts had to score 222 to be semifinalists, and private school students in the wealthiest Mississippi enclaves only had to score 209.


My kid in public school in NJ got a 219 and won't qualify for SF, but if she instead had gone to the private high school in TN that I attended, she would have. How is that right?


Your kid is not in top 1% in NJ but would be in top 1% in TN. Why is that wrong?


Because state cutoffs are inherently arbitrary.



it's not. top 1%. nothing arbitrary about it. you are just upset b/c your kid didn't make the cut and i can understand that


That is what "arbitrary" means. Shame that vocabulary isn't on the SAT anymore.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:18     Subject: National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:I was a NMF back in the early 90’s, when it might have meant more for college admissions. I’ve done ok, typical law career trajectory- but many in my high school class who didn’t get National Merit recognition went on to achieve more academically and professionally. My point is, it really didn’t matter back then and probably matters even less now.


It didn't mean anything then either.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:17     Subject: National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:My son has a 225 in MD and to be honest the idea that it jumped to 226 is totally throwing me off here. It’s making me re-think if we are being too optimistic about his chances at safeties, targets, and reaches. This just feels so unexpected and outside what we imagined was possible.

It isn’t so much about NMSF, although it would have been nice, but this has shaken our confident in his chances overall even at schools that should be easy safeties. A 225 score felt totally safe for MD NMSF but wasn’t.


NMSF is meaningless for college admissions. NMSF a state by state contest (sorry, DC!) for top 0.5% scores.

Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:17     Subject: Re:National merit 2026?
Has the index score threshold for NMSF ever been that high before? I don’t remember hearing 226 in the past. Is the source reporting this reputable?
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:15     Subject: National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:Is it taking longer than previous years to find out the numbers?


Compass Prep says record breaking high cutoffs (226 in Maryland, which is approximately 760M/750V or 740M/760V PSAT; 228 index 760M/760V is perfect score); and College Board is withholding information.

Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:06     Subject: National merit 2026?
Don't forget that your child is still safely in the top 1% in the nation. Just because they are not the top 1% in Maryland does not mean that they are not extremely competitive and better than most other students.

I understand that it is disheartening and everything about this college application process is stressful and unknown. Let's all try to stay optimistic.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:05     Subject: National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:My son has a 225 in MD and to be honest the idea that it jumped to 226 is totally throwing me off here. It’s making me re-think if we are being too optimistic about his chances at safeties, targets, and reaches. This just feels so unexpected and outside what we imagined was possible.

It isn’t so much about NMSF, although it would have been nice, but this has shaken our confident in his chances overall even at schools that should be easy safeties. A 225 score felt totally safe for MD NMSF but wasn’t.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 10:01     Subject: National merit 2026?
Anonymous wrote:My son has a 225 in MD and to be honest the idea that it jumped to 226 is totally throwing me off here. It’s making me re-think if we are being too optimistic about his chances at safeties, targets, and reaches. This just feels so unexpected and outside what we imagined was possible.

It isn’t so much about NMSF, although it would have been nice, but this has shaken our confident in his chances overall even at schools that should be easy safeties. A 225 score felt totally safe for MD NMSF but wasn’t.


Agree and will this be the most competitive college application cycle yet? I would not have thought this with the effects of covid lingering. Or...perhaps just very well prepped at the very top?
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2025 09:57     Subject: National merit 2026?
My son has a 225 in MD and to be honest the idea that it jumped to 226 is totally throwing me off here. It’s making me re-think if we are being too optimistic about his chances at safeties, targets, and reaches. This just feels so unexpected and outside what we imagined was possible.

It isn’t so much about NMSF, although it would have been nice, but this has shaken our confident in his chances overall even at schools that should be easy safeties. A 225 score felt totally safe for MD NMSF but wasn’t.