Slightly more than 1% of students taking the PSAT are selected as NMSF
@mkumar17 I think you are very close. What was your 0-760 scores in each section and those percentiles? For TN, I think that the cutoff will be less than 99.0%
When will they continue sending out the access codes for those of us who still haven’t recieved their scores?
Obviously I’m not sure of anything! All I know is that a large number of kids scored 1450+ in my school, which last year had NO national merit finalists so we’re not particularly strong. and 1450+ corresponds in the 220s i believe, which gives me reason to think it will be higher. It depends on your state. @GrandBudapest
I think that most state’s cutoff will be 220+. The lower scoring states will be around 220 while the others are at 225+. Hopefully my score qualifies! This is the first time I’m thankful for being in Alabama. I might be completely wrong though.
I live in California, so I think it’s safe to assume now that my 222 won’t cut it. Darn it.
It’s more disheartening to me because last year as a sophomore I got in the 230s so I thought it was likely that I would become a NMSF this year.
680 in R+W (99%) and 740 in Math (99%). @jerzmaster
@GrandBudapest if CA has a higher cutoff point than 220 that’s insane so you should not worry!!! I think it’s safe to say that if anyone got over a 220 they are NMSF!
I don’t want to a single any person out, but how is it possible that a 680 R+W is in the 99% nationally when it’s been widely reported (at least here on CC) that people have been getting higher scores?
For all those who didn’t make the NM cutoff, don’t worry about it. All it is is a tiny thing to add to your application, which colleges know is only related to a single test your junior year, and which matters much less than the SAT or ACT; and the scholarship opportunities are few anyways. Don’t lose hope if you didn’t do as well as you’d hoped!
Earlier this year I got un-accepted from NHS for missing a meeting and I was devastated, but after thinking about it (& crying to the sponsors, & writing a letter to the principal) I realized NHS is just one small thing, and not having it isn’t a big deal at all. It definitely wouldn’t make me stand out in the applicant pool, and neither would NMSF to any substantial degree. Don’t let the little things ruin your day!
@heirofslytherine My son scored a 211 SI in the 98 percentile. We are in AL too! Good luck!
I may be missing something but why are people thinking the cutoffs will be higher than previous years? Since the highest possible score is lower, doesn’t it make sense that the scale would be shifted down lower as well to stay fairly equivalent from year to year?
Thanks for giving us some perspective, @coffeeaddicted 
Yes, it’s not like NMSF is the be-all and end-all for college admissions, but still I hope the cutoffs aren’t as high as some are suggesting they will be!
So I am from Ohio, I got a national 99%tile on both sections. Is my state normally above the curve or below it? Can a sleep at night relatively confident that I will be a NMS? Also whats a selections score and where do i find it? thanks!
Lol you ARE singling me out though… But anyway because I got a 740 on Math which made up for it… And also, 90% of people that are on CC talking about the PSAT will have high scores…the people on here are not at all a fair or even close to fair representation of the entire population of PSAT takers…why would a student with a mediocre score bother to make a CC account and talk about the PSAT if he or she obviously didn’t do well? Get what I’m saying? @GrandBudapest
@2blessed2b Well, many people here have said that their friends/classmates have been getting quite high scores even when previously their school hasn’t had many NMSFs. Also, the elimination of the penalty for a wrong answer / guessing has probably increased scores.
@GrandBudapest First of all, I don’t think the scores listed on CC are representative of the country. I also don’t think everything I read on the internet is true. If College Board says you are in the 98th percentile, then I would believe them.
Sorry @mkumar17 ! I just meant to say that it seems odd that the 99% has such a wide range.
Yes, I see what your saying, but CCers are reporting that their friends/classmates (i.e. people NOT on CC) have been getting surprisingly high scores.
My school usually does fairly well for people who qualify (20-30) but a lot more people than usual in my school are in the 99th percentile this time
Lol still haven’t received my score. I tried logging in and got this message:
“Sorry for the inconvenience but we encountered an error within our system. Please try again later.”