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Will I make the 2013 cutoff in New York?

doctorwhofandoctorwhofan 65 replies17 threads Junior Member
edited May 2012 in National Merit Scholarships
Hi. I'm a public high school junior from New York. I got a 222 on the PSAT this October (80 cr, 66 m, 76 w) and I am curious about making the NMSF cutoff in my state.

In the past, it has been in the range of 217 to 219 (last year).

I normally wouldn't be worried, but DC, NJ, and MA had a cutoff of 223 last year, which makes me a bit nervous.

Do you think a 222 will be sufficient for NY? Thanks! :)
edited May 2012
24 replies
Post edited by doctorwhofan on
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Replies to: Will I make the 2013 cutoff in New York?

  • LonghaulLonghaul 2616 replies137 threads Senior Member
    At this point we can only speculate. My son goes to school in NJ. He scored 223. You know I will be on edge until fall.

    I do believe that you have a very good shot.

    Best thing to do now is focus on taking the SAT (and sending the score to NM) and your GPA.

    Good Luck!
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  • doctorwhofandoctorwhofan 65 replies17 threads Junior Member
    Thanks. For what it's worth, I got a 2270 on the Oct. 2011 SAT. Hopefully that'll be enough for NMF, but I'm probably retaking it to get in the 2300s.

    223 in NJ? Wow! Congratulations, that's great! but yeah, that must be really stressful since it is right on last year's cutoff point. Good luck to you and your son too. :D
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  • caughtintrafficcaughtintraffic 386 replies9 threads Member
    doctorwhofan, I think you'll be fine, because I've heard rumors (don't quote me) that this year's cutoff might be a couple points lower than last year's. As far as your SAT score goes, I've heard that as long as it's in the 2000s, you're fine. The people at National Merit just want to make sure your PSAT score wasn't a fluke.
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  • vryproudmomvryproudmom 189 replies30 threads Junior Member
    "Best thing to do now is focus on taking the SAT (and sending the score to NM) and your GPA. "

    My S received a 221 on PSAT (NJ) He has already taken the SAT's and his score was over 2090. His focus has now turned to the ACT's. Since it is not known if Jersey's cut off will come down a few points this year should he send his SAT results to NM or wait for the results?
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  • perazzimanperazziman 2357 replies63 threads Senior Member
    ^I think you should wait until they tell you he is a semifinalist, since NM Commended does not require confirmation with an SAT score. I too have heard that the cut offs could be lower, because of a harsher curve.

    My S has a 219 in Texas, where the cut off was, yep, you guessed it, 219 last year.
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  • vryproudmomvryproudmom 189 replies30 threads Junior Member
    Can anyone explain the "harsher curve"...or why there would be a harsher curve. The word "harsher" makes me think it would be less likely that our kids' borderline scores would make it, but I think everyone is saying that the number to be considered a semi-finalist might be lower this year? Am I reading this correctly? Thanks
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  • perazzimanperazziman 2357 replies63 threads Senior Member
    Harsher curve means there are fewer kids with high scores. So, lower scores would get one into higher percentile ranks. Since NM determines who is a semifinalist and commended on the basis of percentile ranks, kids on the 99 and 97 percentile rank would have lower scores than before. If you have percentile rank tables from last year and this year you can see a difference of about 2 points.
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  • vryproudmomvryproudmom 189 replies30 threads Junior Member
    Thanks for explaining. I was just looking for a table from last year online...but I could not find one.
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  • perazzimanperazziman 2357 replies63 threads Senior Member
    2010 is here:

    2010 Understanding Psat Nmsqt Scores
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  • vryproudmomvryproudmom 189 replies30 threads Junior Member
    Thanks so much Perazziman. Comparing the 2 years gives us hope!
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  • tarmirieltarmiriel 203 replies26 threads Junior Member
    doctorwhofan, are we the same person?? I got a 223 on the PSAT in NY, and I also got a 2270 on the October SAT and will be retaking, probably in May. Many of my friends got below a 215 on this year's PSAT, and since I go to a really competitive school that usually has a lot of semifinalists, that leads me to believe that it was a slightly more difficult test than usual and that the cutoff might be a little lower than usual if fewer people did well. I certainly hope we make it! Do you know when we find out?
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  • crazymomstercrazymomster 1677 replies195 threads Senior Member
    ^ You will fiind out in September, possibly August, depending on your school. You can start checking here then though.
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  • doctorwhofandoctorwhofan 65 replies17 threads Junior Member
    tarmiriel - Hahaha, whoa! That's funny that our scores are so similar. My school usually has only a few semifinalists every year, but the other kids in the top 10 didn't do so well, mostly under 200, so I think your conclusion is correct. Good luck, hope we make it! :)
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  • JuniorMintJuniorMint 1465 replies26 threads Senior Member
    doctorwhofan, I got the exact same score PSAT (222), section for section, as you did! Funny, that if we had not missed one question in the writing section, our scores would be 4 points higher. Well done on the SAT, I will not match that though. *sigh*
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  • alwaysleahalwaysleah 2700 replies37 threads Senior Member
    222 in CA.. The cutoff was 221 last year. I hate how long we have to wait :(
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  • mom2collegekidsmom2collegekids Forum Champion Financial Aid, Forum Champion Alabama 84339 replies1049 threads Forum Champion
    Leah...I think you're going to be fine. I really don't think Calif is going to increase by 2 pts. It's risen just too much lately to sustain more increases.

    fingers crossed for you.

    great score, BTW.

    :)
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  • alwaysleahalwaysleah 2700 replies37 threads Senior Member
    Thanks :) it's just stressful, I want those scholarships!
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  • mommaof5mommaof5 560 replies10 threads Member
    We are in the same boat. My son took the test in MI and scored a 211, for2012 you needed a 210 and the four years before that a 209. He is now very nervous after seeing such big number jumps in other states. He will be so disappointed if he would have gotten it the last five years and finds out in the fall his score wasn't not good enough.
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  • perazzimanperazziman 2357 replies63 threads Senior Member
    Looking at the numbers, Michigan cut off this year, will probably be going lower than last year.
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  • xcalculatinxcalculatin 154 replies10 threads Junior Member
    Looking at past data, i think you have a decent shot. But, you've clearly done your part here...
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