<p>Does anyone know why they have a separate cutoff for each state?</p>
<p>Daughter received 212, but NJ has a high cutoff history so I’m a little bummed especially since my company offers a nice scholarship amount through the NMSQT. I think last year cutoff was 220, so it’s very unlikely to come down 8 points.</p>
<p>Does the SAT score only come into play once the student is a semi-finalist? Daughter has a 2200 and asked me to schedule her for the October test to see if she can improve her score. I think it’s pretty good where it is, but she is not decided on where she wants to apply yet so perhaps she just wants to try once more before the applications go out.</p>
<p>Her senior year begins Monday, so I’m sure her guidance counselor will have news one way or the other.</p>
<p>jerseygirl14 - they have different PSAT cut off scores for each state so they can get even representation from all states. The states with fewer people have fewer kids taking the exam and therefore lower cutoff scores. The SAT score is important for college admissions, but is only relevant for the National Merit competition if you are named a semi-finalist. </p>
<p>Congrats to your daughter on her 2200 - it is a great score.</p>
<p>Jerseygirl14, they have separate state cutoffs apparently to get representation from all 50 states. Each state gets a certain number of semifinalists based on the number of graduating seniors from that state. In other words, if a state has 10% of the nation’s graduating seniors, they would then get 10% of the 16,000 semifinalists.</p>
<p>And also how much does gpa figure into becoming a finalist? i slacked off horribly my 1st 2 years and even though i picked it up last year im still only at 3.3. anyone?</p>
<p>Sanchez, 15,000 of the 16,000 semifinalists make it to finalist I think, so good luck. We did hear of 2 people from our school who did not advance in the last few years. One did not turn in the paperwork because he graduated early and went to college. The other had a D his freshman year. I don’t know if these stories are accurate or just local high school legend, though. I do remember reading that you can appeal if you don’t get finalist status. Also, I think lots of schools give scholarships to semifinalists. Can anyone confirm that for Sanchez!</p>
<p>Congratulations! You should be proud of how you have improved over the years.</p>
<p>My son also is concerned about his gpa (~3.3). GC tells us that it usually helps to have stronger grades in later years. I wonder if anyone who made it to finalist in past years without a high gpa can share what their gpa was. Also, does anyone know if weighted gpa’s are used? I think his gpa is a lot higher if it’s weighted but I don’t know if they consider that.</p>
<p>If slacking off was the main issue, and those are ordinary high school courses you are talking about, that will be tough, not just because of the grades themselves but also because you need a recommendation from a nonfamily recommender who knows you well to advance to finalist. But try and see what happens.</p>
<p>AugustaGurrl, my dd sent all her scores (sat for reasoning once) - she didn’t deliberately send all of them, but we checked her account at CollegeBoard yesterday and they all went.</p>
<p>I’m sure they’re used to getting all the scores since this will be the first year for score choice, so I don’t think it will matter one way or the other :)</p>