<p>“This thread is full of people happy to have their child achieve this prestigious honor and walk the red carpet of accolades, but just as happy to roll up the carpet behind them so that intelligent, ambitious, low-income URM students with PSAT qualification just as good as, or better than, those of many other intelligent and accomplished NMSF qualifiers from low-cutoff states, cannot.”</p>
<p>C’mon now. This is a bit out of line. This thread was made up of people hoping for good news for their kid for this one test on this one day. It was a fantastic, supportive thread. We cheered triumphs and commiserated with those who missed the cutoff. That’s really it. Nobody whose child made it has said or even implied that they are “happy to roll up the carpet behind them so that intelligent, ambitious, low-income URM students cannot.” Nobody.</p>
<p>NMSF qualification is for the top 1% of HS seniors in a state, meaning that 99% of that state’s seniors will not receive this honor. Lowering the bar for some students based on race is the wrong solution. That tells those students they aren’t as good as their White or Asian counterparts. Pushing K-12 public schools to raise the quality of their education for all students would be a much better strategy. NMSC and the colleges who offer the large awards do so for all students who meet the criteria no matter what race. Forcing these schools and NMSC to revamp their awards by race to accommodate lower scoring students would likely cause more to cut those offerings. That would be a loss for more students than were helped. </p>
<p>So if a Portuguese kid lives in Newark, it’s his fault for his family moving there? He’s considered white and non-Hispanic. </p>
<p>I prefer income and overall finances being the only qualifier for aid. But if someone wants to put together special programs for those in their community, they can. </p>
<p>All of this interest is based on a test that was 2 hours and 10 minutes, that your son or daughter may or may not have been at “peak condition” to take that day. To some kids, it’s like winning the lottery because if they took the PSAT ten different times, they would have gotten ten different scores. Or losing the lottery in the same sense.</p>
<p>@planner03, you clearly support your son’s academic, social, and spiritual development, that is why you are here. </p>
<p>I do not find it insulting to West Virginians, or to Kentuckians, or to those students from Arkansas, Alabama or Louisiana, that the NMSF qualifying scores for those States are 5-10 points lower than those for students from CA, DC, MA, MD and NJ and other high-NMSF cutoff States, do you?</p>
<p>So why on earth would you consider it an insult for low-income, disadvantaged, under-represented minority students with those same WV-, KY-, AL-, and LA- NMSF-cutoff scores to receive the same honor and distinction? They do not require a little boost, they are competing on the same terms and scores as these other State’s students.</p>
<p>Our rural public high school is virtually all white and our median income is slightly higher than the national average. There are about 350 students in each class and we typically have ONE national merit scholar every FOUR years. That is 1 in 1400 kids - way below the percentages elsewhere. And our high school ranks in the top 10% in the state on other standardized tests. Just pointing this out to show that sometimes it isn’t about the color of your skin or your socioeconomic status, nor is it about the quality of the school system. The point here is that it is a complicated question not likely to be resolved on this website. :)</p>
<p>First of all, the way this thread is going is really upsetting me. We were here to support each other in the wait for information, and to share information when we got it. S just called me after school and said he did not make it. The cut off that the school told them for MI was 211. Up 1 from last year. Frustrating to us because so many states have gone down, but it is what it is. He is Commended which in itself is a huge achievement. I am so proud of him and every other student who has worked hard to earn the score they earned. Whether that score was recognized as SF or Commended is an honor. I do not understand how some people want to turn this into who is being wronged because of where they live or what their ethnicity may be. </p>
<p>exactly @suzy100. This is one of the most supportive groups of people around. I have gotten a big smile on my face for every kid that made it and been bummed out for every kid that didn’t. But not once did I think that anyone was just lucky because they happen to live in a low cut off state. They earned it.</p>
<p>Yankee Belle, it’s a small point, but it’s the top 0.5% of seniors in each state. It’s about 1% of test-takers, as overall participation is about 50%, which is where the confusion comes in.</p>
<p>@celesteroberts, we are good. He was on the bubble from the get go and we knew that. It was a bad day at a really scary time for him and his test taking took a hit. But we talked just now about when he ran a half marathon in the 8th grade. Came in 7th for his age group. The year before that and the year after that the same time would have gotten him first place by almost a full minute. Timing is everything :)</p>
<p>@wrights, sorry your S missed it. I hope he is still proud of his accomplishment! My nephew missed it by one point, but he knows he will have lots of other opportunities. I’m sure your son knows that too.</p>
<p>Mother of pearl. @illinoisan, you have single-handedly sucked the joy and partnership right out of this thread with your insufferable case of sour grapes. Your kid did not make NMSF. Your kid is going to be OK. Go picket in Evanston. You are not helping here.</p>
<p>@wrights, congratulations to him for coming so close and for all his achievement so far. I’m sorry he missed it and I can imagine in some ways it’s harder to come so close than to miss by a mile. But it’s really great that both you and he understand that it isn’t the be all and end all. </p>
<p>I’m with you @Felicita! I loved that this thread had become such a supportive haven for all, including those who ended up on the other side of the cutoff. It’s disappointing for sure but when your score is that high, it really doesn’t change things that much. The scholarships are still there even if it means taking a slightly different route to get to them and not having the ease of an automatic grant. We’re all in this together and this is a wonderfully accomplished group of kids. </p>
<p>I will pose this question to everyone, and perhaps someone has the answer. Did the National Merit program ever have a nationally-determined PSAT cutoff, or was it always done on a State-by-State determination? </p>
<p>What if until this year, the National Merit corporation had determined the cutoff on a National basis, but had decided to change it to a State-by-State determination. How would you feel about it?</p>