OFFICIAL National Merit Semifinalist Cutoff Scores 2007

Test Preparation
41

<p>wats new yorks?!?!?</p>

42

<p>I’d take these numbers with a grain of salt. There will likely be corrections along the way. If the waiting is too much, you might try calling the folks at NMSC. Depending on who you get on the phone, he/she may give up your state’s cutoff if you’re nice…</p>

<p>AZ <= 214
CA = 217 -2
FL <= 212
IL = 213 -5 (huge drop, this is questionable)
IN <= 214
MO <= 221
OH <= 213</p>

<p>Link to previous years’ cutoffs:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=2993607&postcount=662[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=2993607&postcount=662&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

43

<p>I tried to call NMSC and she won’t tell me. She said the data will be available on Sept. 12th.</p>

44

<p>Oh well, it was worth a try. I called last year and was able to get it from the person I spoke to. I’m not sure if it was before or after Sep 12, though.</p>

45

<p>I found out today that the other girl at my NE Ohio school who got semifinalist actually got 211.</p>

<p>AZ <= 214
CA = 217 -2
FL <= 212
IL = 213 -5 (huge drop, this is questionable)
IN <= 214
MO <= 221
OH <= 211 -4</p>

46

<p>oklahoma’s is 207…confirmed</p>

47

<p>and so i am a semi…hooray </p>

<p>what do i have to do to be a finalist</p>

48

<p>ozarka27, OK was 207 last year. Are you saying 207 is the cutoff or is that your score? I ask this because OK would be the first state to buck the downward trend.</p>

49

<p>Does that mean if you got a 207 in OK you are a semi? Because that is exactly what I got. My counselor and principal have got nothing in the mail at all. They are as eagerly awaiting the news as am I! I’ve got my fingers crossed!</p>

<p>Sarah</p>

50

<p>The score from last year for oklahoma on the other page is incorrect. the cutoff for the 2007 competition for oklahoma was 208. It did go down one point, it is now 207. I saw the thread and visited my counselor to check the validity of the score on the thread and she showed me a letter that said that OK was 208 last year.</p>

51

<p>my counselor also called the PSAT office, they changed how you qualify your score with the SAT. Last year you had to have a math + verbal score of 1300 and i think a writing score of 650 (dont trust me on that part im not sure)</p>

<p>this year you just have to have a 2000 composite, it doesnt matter what the individual scores are</p>

52

<p>Ok then (no pun intended)…</p>

<p>AZ <= 214
CA = 217 -2
FL <= 212
IL = 213 -5 (huge drop, this is questionable)
IN <= 214
MO <= 221
OH <= 211
OK = 207 -1</p>

<p>Link to previous years’ cutoffs (there are errors and missing updates on this list):</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=2993607&postcount=662[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=2993607&postcount=662&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

53

<p>I heard the score for Louisiana is 207, down 2 points from 209 last year.</p>

54

<p>My son said his principal muttered something about having written him a rec letter, didn’t even indicate it was for NMSF. Son had no idea what he was talking about, so we checked with the guidance counselor. She did not say what the IA cutoff was, said something about the stuff was confidential until a certain date, so all we know is that a 232 was enough in IA. Not much help, i know.</p>

55

<p>Below is an email between college counselors that was forwarded to me. Interesting perspective on what’s happening this year with NMSF thresholds.</p>

<p>It reads:</p>

<p>Jon, wonderful example of civil disobedience. I think you’ve already passed the Alice’s Restaurant standard of a “movement.”</p>

<p>Most reporters are describing lower cut-offs. Keep in mind that this does not represent a dumbing down of our youth, but a temporary(?) dumbing down at the College Board. When the new PSAT was introduced in fall 2004, there had yet to be any new SAT and there was certainly no new scale. The PSAT is traditionally put together from items vetted on the SAT. Prior to the new SAT, the Writing items had to come from the SAT II Writing (similar to the new SAT Writing, but just different enough). Moreover, since the SAT is a normed test, a scale could only be developed in relationship to a reference group. The March 2005 SAT takers were the first to receive honest to goodness SAT Writing scores on an honest to goodness SAT Writing scale. I know, it’s all becoming quite Orwellian.</p>

<p>The College Board had at least a couple ways of improving the situation for fall 2005 despite its claims in the post hoc rationalization for fall 2006. But they left things unchanged for 2005.</p>

<p><a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;

<p>That’s why the first group of PSAT students to take a NEW NEW PSAT Writing section were those from last October. The scaling of the new Writing is a bit more challenging than the old, so Writing scores dropped 3.5 points on average. Hence the decline in National Merit cut-offs.</p>

<p>What this year’s decline also serves to remind me of is the steep run-up in National Merit cut-offs (in most states) in 2004 and 2005. Were students getting smarter? About the test, yes? Before the class of 2006, students had very little exposure to SAT Writing items — a rather specialized style and grammar unto itself. SAT books did not include the items, few prep classes prepped for them, and they didn’t help you get into college unless you had to take the SAT II Writing. Students responded as rational consumer theory would have them respond by not caring all that much about the PSAT Writing of old. All of that changed with the new SAT. We suddenly saw students, especially at the high end, take the test seriously. Mirabile dictu, these students got higher Writing scores and National Merit cut-offs climbed. The curious among you can plot the changes by looking at the College Board’s College Bound Juniors reports for the last several years.</p>

56

<p>AZ <= 214
CA = 217 -2
FL <= 212
IL = 213 -5 (huge drop, this is questionable)
IN <= 214
LA = 207 -2
MO <= 221
OH <= 211
OK = 207 -1</p>

57

<p>My daughter received a call from her guidance counselor today telling her she was a national merit semi-finalist and to come in and get a packet to fill out. Her score was a 223 (New York).</p>

58

<p>AZ <= 214
CA = 217 -2
FL <= 212
IL = 213 -5 (huge drop, this is questionable)
IN <= 214
LA = 207 -2
MO <= 221
NY <=223
OH <= 211
OK = 207 -1</p>

59

<p>NY’s cutoff is likely to be lower than 223; it was 221 last year so will probably be 218 or 219 this year.</p>

60

<p>Heard from school today - Texas appears to be 215 - down from 217 the past two years.</p>