Drumroll… Now the toughest and easiest states to make NMSF.
The green numbers are the states with the highest percentage of Commended. The red numbers are the states with the lowest percentage of Commended. The orange numbers are the lowest percentage of state entrants making the NMSF cut. The blue numbers are highest percentage of state entrants making the NMSF cut.
As a national average:
2.5% make the cut for Commended
1.1% make the cut for NMSF
The fraction of Commended who become NMSF is 43.9%
Legend for data columns:
- Percentage: #Commended ÷ #state entrants
- Percentage: #NMSF ÷ #state entrants
- ratio: %NMSF ÷ %Commended
- Name of state
as a percentage of entrants in a state
2.50% 1.10% | 43.9% | National Avg
3.80% 0.68% | ** 18.0% ** | Massachusetts
3.76% 0.82% | ** 21.8% ** | NewJersey
3.30% 0.72% | ** 22.0% ** | Maryland
2.56% 0.57% | ** 22.2% ** | Connecticut
3.30% 0.82% | ** 24.7% ** | Virginia
5.56% 1.39% | ** 25.0% ** | DistrictofColumbia
5.78% 1.46% | ** 25.3% ** | OtherSelectionUnits
3.76% 1.15% | 30.5% | California
2.99% 0.95% | 31.8% | Washington
1.91% 0.71% | 37.1% | NewYork
1.66% 0.68% | 40.9% | Texas
1.69% 0.69% | 40.9% | Delaware
2.69% 1.11% | 41.2% | Vermont
2.19% 0.94% | 43.1% | Pennsylvania
2.90% 1.26% | 43.3% | Oregon
2.79% 1.25% | 44.8% | Georgia
1.97% 0.88% | 44.9% | NewHampshire
3.76% 1.85% | 49.3% | Illinois
2.58% 1.30% | 50.5% | Colorado
3.14% 1.60% | 51.0% | Minnesota
1.82% 0.96% | 52.9% | Indiana
3.09% 1.66% | 53.8% | Kansas
1.90% 1.07% | 56.1% | NorthCarolina
2.18% 1.29% | 59.4% | Ohio
1.88% 1.16% | 62.0% | Florida
1.54% 0.98% | 63.6% | RhodeIsland
1.14% 0.76% | 67.2% | Maine
1.52% 1.02% | 67.3% | Hawaii
2.01% 1.52% | 75.5% | Arizona
2.57% 2.02% | 78.4% | Tennessee
3.05% 2.51% | 82.2% | Missouri
1.12% 1.05% | 93.0% | Idaho
1.05% 1.11% | 105.4% | SouthCarolina
1.08% 1.14% | 105.7% | Nevada
1.76% 1.92% | 108.9% | Kentucky
1.92% 2.14% | 111.4% | Iowa
1.86% 2.16% | 116.1% | Oklahoma
1.65% 2.04% | 123.4% | Wisconsin
1.48% 1.85% | 124.7% | Alabama
1.34% 1.69% | 125.6% | Nebraska
1.71% 2.16% | 125.9% | Michigan
0.88% 1.17% | 133.3% | NewMexico
1.32% 1.78% | 134.5% | Alaska
1.15% 1.78% | 154.5% | Louisiana
1.66% 2.69% | 162.4% | Utah
0.59% 1.20% | 204.0% | Montana
0.75% 1.81% | 241.2% | SouthDakota
0.75% 2.33% | 309.1% | Mississippi
0.48% 2.23% | 465.6% | Arkansas
0.27% 1.90% | 700.0% | NorthDakota
0.08% 2.10% | 2600.0% | Wyoming
0.00% 2.45% | #DIV/0! | WestVirginia
The column NMSF:Commended ratio (column3) is a metric of toughness/easiness to make NMSF in a state. The states with the most competitive environments are the ones that have disproportionately high number of high scorers (i.e. a high fraction of Commended) and a disproportionately low number of students who make the NMSF cut. These are the states highlighted in magenta:
18.0% Massachusetts
21.8% NewJersey
22.0% Maryland
22.2% Connecticut
24.7% Virginia
25.0% DistrictofColumbia
25.3% OtherSelectionUnits
The states where you barely need to breathe and have a pulse to make NMSF are:
309.1% Mississippi
465.6% Arkansas
700.0% NorthDakota
2600.0% Wyoming
DIV/0! WestVirginia (lol, WV has a zero-division error…)
I encourage other posters to cut & paste the table in Excel and “mine” the data to make/share their own conclusions.