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<p>Clearly they do enjoy it. They drag this thing out for almost a year, when they already know what the cutoff scores are.</p>
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Because it gets people riled up when they score 223 in MA and miss the cutoff by one point, but someone in WV makes it w a 203-- same reason why elite colleges don’t reveal the demographic details and scores of the students they admit.</p>
<p>^That was my thought also. They don’t like to draw attention to the differences in cut scores.</p>
<p>But they will release the information on September 10th? Are they assuming that by then, people won’t care as much? </p>
<p>NMSC only releases lists of names, not cut sores. Though there is a book that principals get that apparently has the cut scores. Nobody ever gets to see that. There was a poster here 2 years ago I think, who did have access and that year the scores were deduced quite fast. Fairtest also got hold of it and put it up on their site for a couple of days. Then it vanished. I presume NMSC contacted them.</p>
<p>But I thought that if you called them on September 10th, then they will release one qualifying score to you? Also, there are many websites that have compiled the cutoff scores, we even have one on page 1 of this discussion. </p>
<p>Shhh… Keep this on the down low. We don’t want the NMS folks shutting this whole discussion down!!!</p>
<p>onlythebest. I believe that is true, that they will release one state’s cut score on the phone. Unless they change things. But they do not publish the entire list for the general public. People compile these lists by accumulating data points.</p>
<p>And part of that year’s thread that I mentioned was deleted without comment and I believe the poster was also ‘deleted’. </p>
<p>I thought the SF letters would go directly to the school like the PSAT scores did - do parents actually get them directly in the mail?</p>
<p>Homeschool parents often do …</p>
<p>@greatfallsmom
Then from there, does the school distribute the letters to the parents/students? Or do they post a list of who got SF status? </p>
<p>I have no idea - so many posts made it seem like SF kids would start seeing something in their mailboxes. I just thought it went to schools first. Has anyone done this in recent years and know the answer?</p>
<p>@greatfallsmom
Do you predict that CA cutoff will go up?</p>
<p>No idea on that one either I’m afraid! My son is in a DC independent. But the fact that the commended went down 2 points is positive. Last year’s scores were out of whack for every state - an anomaly in my opinion. Too much jump. My son’s on the bubble. DC had a 224 cut-off last year, the highest the cut-off has ever been, and he got a 223. So I’m holding my breath for him! </p>
<p>The schools are given instructions not to publish anything before September 10th. Some consider this as a rule not even to tell the students but that is an incorrect assumption. NMSC gives them guidance to share it with students who made the cut but not make it public.</p>
<p>If you are enrolled in a school, the semifinalist information goes to the school. Some schools may give students info early. Others wait until the official announcement date, or a few days later. And still others drop the ball completely and never notify the student(s) at all, losing the paperwork under piles of other stuff, and ruining the student’s chances at making NMF. This happens sometimes at small or rural schools which seldom have NMSFs and don’t know the significance of it.</p>
<p>At my kids’ HSs, which typically get 25 NMSFs each every year, they pretend not to have received the information if you ask them to release it to you early. D13 was on the bubble and we were trying to put together school lists and visit schedules. But they were not moved. They did not have that information yet, hadn’t received anything from NMSC. Not the GC’s fault, you know. He was just following instructions from higher up.</p>
<p>I am slowly being driven crazy by this whole process! Why all this cloak and dagger? I just want to know already! UGH!</p>
<p>@greatfallsmom
I sympathize with you: I have a 223 in CA, and the cutoff was exactly 223 last year. Just a little bit worried because though the commended cutoff has gone down, scores have been generally rising. Personally, I think it would be ridiculous to have cutoffs at 224 again though. </p>
<p>Given how long it took for D’s school to return the PSAT results in the first place, I expect that she will not get official notification until she asks for the paperwork after the official release date. Does anyone know how long the kids have to file it with the NM people? </p>
<p>@3g3c, I haven’t read this all the way through, but it looks like the App was due back to the NMC by October 9 last year. That’s a pretty short window.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/Merit_R&I_Leaflet.pdf</a></p>