<p>Anyone think the very top state scores will come down a point? My son goes to a DC school and got a 223 but last year the cut-off for DC was 224, tied with I think Massachusetts and California or New York for the highest SF cut-off. I’m hoping DC drops a point since the commended will drop a few. Has anybody taken a look at DC?</p>
<p>@greatfallsmom, check out post #552 and #553. According to the posts, DC cut-off could be 222-224. My child is also on the bubble, so I do hope the cut-off would drop at least by one point this year. The long wait is almost done and the schools will have the list by the end of the week. I don’t know whether my kid’s school would share the news with the SF students as soon as they get the list, though.</p>
<p>@greatfallsmom Is the commended score dropping a good indication of other states’ cutoffs dropping as well? I have a 223 in CA….</p>
<p>Thanks @pom2015 ! Maybe if your school does share it with the parents you can post it? Good luck for your son too!</p>
<p>So I’m trying to think this through - is there anyone I know who may be privy to the info when it comes out? I know several APs well enough to ask, but at our big school, they won’t likely know the NMSF info. They will be busy dealing with the kids who are smoking weed in the parking lot at lunch time. </p>
<p>Any Texas homeschoolers on here who expect to get the NMSF letter? If so, can I be your new best friend? Hopefully, your student got a 219 or below and will get good news soon and you will post that info immediately! I will then send you flowers or wine or both!</p>
<p>Just knowing the letters may be in the mail tomorrow will probably cause me to check obsessively for NMSF news all day tomorrow, as if anyone will actually receive their letters the day they are mailed! Truly I need this to be OVER!</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone with a kiddo on the bubble. May those cutoff scores come down!</p>
<p>Thinking like @barfly, I need a homeschooler expecting NMSF in KY. Maybe they will mail the letters today instead!</p>
<p>ditto suzy’s sentiments. Had a kiddo on the bubble 2 years ago, so I empathize with what some of you are going through. You’ll know soon, and best of luck to everyone. May lower cut scores prevail across the board!</p>
<p>Wow, homeschoolers certainly are popular all of a sudden around here! :)) My D is not on the bubble for our state but I badly want to see the official notification nonetheless! Her school is pretty good about NMSF notifications so I hope to get something in a couple of weeks.</p>
<p>I would surely hound my school, but since I know some homeschoolers, I plan to learn from them first, and then see how long it takes the school to pony up (assuming it’s good news and all).</p>
<p>Do the letters tell you whether or not you are a national merit semifinalist or whether or not you made commended status? I thought if you received a letter then that meant you were out of the running for semifinalist.</p>
<p>Also, if they’re sending out letters tomorrow (or hopefully today) then why do we need to wait until September 10th to verify the cutoff score? </p>
<p>What I understood is, tomorrow on wards semifinalists will be notified. Sept 10th, cut off for all states are pubished , and Sep 16th, commended ones will be notified. </p>
<p>If I scored in the 99th percentile in math, 98th percentile in writing and critical reading for my state, is that enough to secure semifinalist status? Or do you have to score in the 99th percentile for all categories? </p>
<p>Its your score that counts, not your %. 98-99% might get you NMSF in Mississippi, but 99% might not in California. You have to be above the cut off score for the state.</p>
<p>I guess what I’m asking is how they decide what will be the cutoff score for each state. Do they take the 99th percentile or the top 1%? Does each state have the same number of semifinalists? </p>
<p>Also, I heard that some people here have put together some linear regression graphs or something to predict the cutoff scores for different states. Did anyone do it for CA?</p>
<p>
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<p>They do it based on number of graduating students in each State and as a percentage of national total.</p>
<p>Assume there are million graduating students across nation and California has 10%. NMSF has 16,000 to be picked across nation but they allocate 10% of that or 1600 to California.</p>
<p>Then they find the cutoff score for top 1600 students in Cal taking the test.</p>
<p>As the mom of a homeschooler in PA, we are thrilled to suddenly be popular! lol Seriously, though, we will keep you all informed if/when a letter arrives!</p>
<p>If they are releasing the letters though, which tell whether or not you are a semifinalist, then why not release the state cutoff with them? They’ve obviously already compiled that information, so why make us resort to posting on CC to figure out our states’ cutoff? Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful to people like luvmygirls, but all the same, I wonder if the PSAT people enjoy prolonging the suspense. </p>