<p>So a 214 won’t cut it this year from Florida? That’s so sad, considering my score dropped substantially from sophomore to junior year. :(</p>
<p>Florida was 214 last year, and its all time recent high is only 215, from 2007. You are certainly on the bubble, but I don’t think it’s out of the question at all. Have you compared the number of high scorers from the state summaries for the past few years?</p>
<p>@PAMom21 isn’t the list at the top of the thread the prediction or was that 2007? Wait, I think I misread it…</p>
<p>Anyway, these are the 2012 and 2013 stats for Florida:</p>
<p>2012
CR-48.6
M-48.4
W-47.2</p>
<p>2013
CR-48.3
M-48.4
W-46.4</p>
<p>If 2012 had a 214 cutoff with this…does that mean I might be okay? Also, if you get SF, it doesn’t matter how high your score is after that, right? It’s just the essay for Finalist?</p>
<p>Also, when are the results going to be released?</p>
<p>I think there is some misunderstanding and confusion here about the current status of students in the 2015 NMSC scholarship competition. I am extremely skeptical that NMSC has told anyone that they will be a semifinalist or that they are a “preliminary semifinalist”. I think that NMSC uses the terms “commended” and "semifinalist’ in very specific terms and that may cause confusion. As far as I know, “preliminary” is not an official NMSC status or any kind.</p>
<p>The letter sent to principals recently is derived from the roughly 50,000 “high scorers”. The 201 PSAT score is not a “commended” cutoff because commended status does not yet exist. It is a cut-off for the “high scorers”. Yes, it will eventually become the commended cut-off but it isn’t that right now. To be on this list of high scorers is indeed a preliminary requirement for becoming a semi-finalist, just as it is a preliminary requirement for being designated a commended scorer. There is no such thing as “preliminary semifinalist status” or “preliminary commended status”. The status as either semi-finalist or commended will not be known until the semi-finalists names are released to schools (late August) or the media (September). The other students from the high scorers list are then commended by default. Right now there is no distinction among the 50,000 high scorers. No one has been designated as having commended status yet. And even if some committee at NMSC has already decided the state cut-offs for semifinalists, I highly doubt that anyone answering the phones would be privy to that information at this point.</p>
<p>So, asking NMSC whether your child is on the commended list is the wrong question. There is no commended list at this point. The question is whether they are on the high scorers list (still no guarantee that they will answer the question.) because these are the names that will continue in the competition from here forward, that is the names of juniors who scored 201 or higher AND filled out the paperwork according to the NMSC guidelines for scholarship qualification.</p>
<p>The next step happens in late August when schools get the names of semi-finalists. This represents about 1/3 of the high scorers. The other 2/3 of high scorers will be designated commended. At this point both the semifinalist and the high school will need to submit additional information and approximately 15000 of the semifinalists will become finalists who will be eligible for scholarships.</p>
<p>The collected data I have (a compilation, so sorry, no links) has the following cuts for recent FL history, based on “class of” years:</p>
<p>2014 214
2013 211
2012 214
2011 210
2010 211
2009 211
2008 212
2007 215</p>
<p>Most states are conservatively looking at a status quo, with drops likely in many. (This is based on the number of high scores dropping slightly, and the potential commendation cut dropping from 203 to 201.) I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I think 214 in FL has a very good chance of qualifying. Technically, the cuts are never “released”, but be sure to check back starting in late August, when the data manages to trickily in piece by piece. By mid September, we should know where everyone stands. Somewhere in that time frame, your school should contact you if you do indeed qualify. Best wishes!!!</p>
<p>I also don’t understand all the implied secrecy around the high-scorers list. After all, until last year, NMSC sent all 50,000 high scorers a letter to their home address confirming their participation in the competition. So why would there now be any implication that the student should not be notified by the school? On the contrary, it seems that the letter should actually request that the school notify the student. Now that the information is sent only to the school, maybe there is confusion between this letter and the one sent in late August that does require some secrecy until the national press release date in mid-September. However, even then the student should be notified right away in order to get the paperwork for advancing to Finalist finished by the deadline. I am guessing the NMSC dropped the individual high scorer notification and the accompanying option for the student to name two schools to be notified of their interest to save money, but it has certainly generated lots of confusion by involving an intermediate (and so often unreliable) party. </p>
<p>We have not heard a word from D’s school or GC about any kind of NMSC high-scorer list. Since her score is definitely above the 201 number that I’ve seen referenced here, I’m assuming that her school doesn’t bother to notify anyone until the final state-specific determination is made. Either that…or they’ve lost our email address again. Sigh. </p>
<p>@stemfamily and all–the letter sent to the schools in April was just to confirm that the student is still eligible for the NM status and to confirm their information. If the information was correct the school wasn’t required to do anything. I recieved one. The schools arent confused.</p>
<p>@isaelijohjac I was just speculating about the source of the confusion. There have been too many posts about parents and students trying to confirm with their school that they are on the list and getting the run-around to make a blanket statement that this change in process isn’t confusing. Maybe the schools aren’t “required” to do anything but I don’t see why many seem to think they are not allowed affirm that a certain name is on the list. Does the letter actually state that? Regardless, it seems that NMSC could save themselves and others a lot of trouble by just telling the schools to notify the students since NMSC used to do it themselves until last year anyway.</p>
<p>If anybody wants to see the letter I can send it to you in message. The letter does not n o t state anything about not telling the student. It does state nothing is necessary of the student at this point. </p>
<p>Do my sons sat scores get sent directly to the NMC or do we have to submit them? He took the SAT in Jan.</p>
<p>You have to submit them. There’s a 4 digit code that pops right up, that I don’t remember offhand.</p>
<p>@pasoccermom you have to submit them</p>
<p>@pasoccermom it’s 0085 or National Merit Scholarship Corporation</p>
<p>The following may be helpful:</p>
<p>From NMC Instructions (Class 2014):</p>
<p>Take the SAT® and earn scores that confirm your 2012 PSAT/NMSQT performance. You must take (or
have taken) a national administration of the SAT between October 2011 and December 2013. Also, it
is your responsibility to file a request with the College Board SAT Program to have an official report
of your SAT scores sent to NMSC (code 0085). </p>
<p>TAKING THE SAT AND HAVING YOUR SCORES REPORTED
To become a Finalist, you must confirm your PSAT/NMSQT performance with scores on the SAT. It is your sole
responsibility to:
- take the SAT on a date authorized by NMSC; and
- request that the College Board SAT Program send an official report of your SAT scores to the
National Merit Scholarship Corporation (code 0085). NMSC must receive your scores no later
than December 31, 2013 for full award consideration.</p>
<p>Authorized SAT administrations
Scores earned on national administrations of the SAT from October 2011 through December 2013 will be
considered by NMSC. NMSC will not accept scores from a national SAT administration taken earlier than
October 2011 or later than December 2013. Your critical reading score, mathematics score, and writing
multiple-choice subscore [CR + M + W(mc)] will be the basis for determining whether you meet the confirming
score requirement.</p>
<p>So, I’m assuming that for 2015, we can just change the dates by one year. D is not planning to take the SAT unless she qualifies and needs it for confirmation. So if she does end up taking it, it will not be until the fall. </p>
<p>@EllieMom If your D has a PSAT of at least 213 ( Illinois for you, right?) I would say she should definitely plan on taking the SAT. Register for the October date and that should be early enough for most EA college apps as well if you are going that route.</p>
<p>@EllieMom That is correct. SAT administration between October 2012 and December 2014 will work. NMSC must receive your scores no later than December 31, 2014 for full award consideration. 1960 is the SAT cutoff for the last couple of years, but may change at their discretion in order to exclude about 1,000 students from becoming finalists (in addition to other valid reasons). </p>
<p>My son has gotten a few letters lately from colleges (last week from Georgetown, the week before from Harvard and Brown) saying specifically congrats on being among “the highest achieving scorers of juniors on the PSAT”. Does that mean they know his score is SF, or do they send those out to anyone on the 50,000 student list? He goes to school in DC and got a 223 on his PSAT, which I am hoping cuts it this year. It was 224 last year (a 3 point jump) but the percentile scores for DC went down this year, so I am praying for a 1 point drop!!</p>
<p>Sounds like that is for the 50K. The verbiage sounds a lot like what the letter home school parents received if their child scored 201 or more. We still need to wait until September for the NMSF cutoff scores for each state to be announced.</p>