<p>To all my fellow “parent-of-HS-juniors”. Best of luck with tomorrow’s PSATs. This can potentially make a big difference in our kiddos educational opportunities (and or wallets!)</p>
<p>Oops- typo above. I meant to say *our wallets.</p>
<p>Thanks, jym. My S is taking it tomorrow as a sophomore and the school district is paying for it. Guess they want to let them practice for next year.</p>
<p>Good idea, tookie. My s’s school has them take it in 9th and 10th for practice. Its great that your school district is paying!</p>
<p>My D is a junior and is taking it Saturday. I’ve not heard of schools giving it during the week? Is this usual?</p>
<p>She’ll be taking the PLAN (pre-ACT) in November. Then we’ll compare scores and focus on one test (SAT or ACT) for winter/spring… with room to retest in fall of senior year, if necessary. </p>
<p>Going to four colleges next week, during her week off for “Fall Break.”</p>
<p>my daughters public high school is having all 10th and 11th graders take it tommorow-
I believe- this is a new thing to add 10th graders- because last year when she was a 10th grader- she didn’t take it.</p>
<p>I had a big argument with her tonight-
I felt bad- but it couldn’t have been helped( she was supposed to meet with her chem teachers today- regarding a test she failed- to see what she was missing- she told me she did meet with them- then she admitted she didn’t-
I got a little frustrated- no yelling- but just insisting that she meet with them tommorow- she doesn’t think she needs to, because she will get what she missed by osmosis or something- oh wait that would be biology! )</p>
<p>Yes, before dinner D2 was bemoaning the PSAT scheduled for tomorrow morning. Guess I’ll have to toast a bagel for her to eat on the bus. 
She didn’t think it was fair to have APUSH in the afternoon…oh, well.</p>
<p>My s’s school used to have a careeer day thing in the afternoon after PSATs. But not this year- they have a shortened regular schedule. No fun.</p>
<p>And Momof2inca- Our school has always given the PSAT on Weds. Only the SAT is on the weekend. Can yo tell me more about the PLAN? I am not familiar with it. S is taking the SAT in Nov. since he’s been prepping for the PSAT, but he is interested in the ACT as well.</p>
<p>My junior D’s taking it today as well. Her (private) school has 10th graders take it for practice so this is a second go-round for her. She also did the CTY stuff so she’s taken the SATs in middle school. But she had a 3-1/2 hr orchestra rehearsal last night and was bone tired when we got in at 11. I’m hearing the rumbles of a sleepy 16-year-old slowly waking as I type this – I’d better go make the poor kid some breakfast to help fuel the brainwork that lies ahead this morning!</p>
<p>Orchestramam-
My s just got out of the shower. Sent DH off to Chick-Fil-A for a breakfast biscuit. I brought him a nice selection of pencils to choose from. Time to pour the OJ and get out the vitamins!</p>
<p>Well- he’s off to school already( it’s 30 miles away…) Weather’s dreary and the traffic stinks.Swell way to start the day. He had a nourishing breakfast of a chick-fil-a biscuit and chocolate cake. Yummmmm…</p>
<p>My jr. S is taking the PSAT today as well. I don’t hold out high hopes. He’s in the dumps today because yesterday he came out of school in the pouring rain to the student parking lot to find his truck had been broken into…window smashed, cd player and Ipod stolen and truck soaking wet from rain. Another kid’s truck nearby was also broken into. The day before 4 vehicles in the student lot were broken into with stuff stolen. The school resource officer is finally gonna patrol the parking lot today! S is so upset. He paid for that stuff with his own money and it will be hard to save up that much again because he only works one day a week during football season. Our Homeowners won’t pay becaue the deductible is about the same as the value of the stuff. We don’t have comprehensive insurance on his truck because it’s 10 years old with lots of miles…ugh. Oh yeah, older S got a speeding ticket on the way back to college on Sunday. When it rains it pours.</p>
<p>At our high sch. all 9th,10th,11th graders take PSAT…no charge…always during the school day. Seniors get to sleep in and come to sch. late.</p>
<p>We had to pay, and in fact, my kid had to take it at a different school with a Wednesday administration, since our school only offers it this Saturday. </p>
<p>It is interesting that some schools have 9th and 10th graders taking it. My son is in 11th, and this is his first time taking it (he did take the SAT in 7th though, so this is not a big deal).</p>
<p>S2 went off to school this a.m. with new, mom-sharpened, #2 pencils and 2 granola bars & apple juice. He did well last year (as a soph), but you never know…usually this area has one of the highest cutoff scores in the country for NMSQT. At least they get the rest of the day off from classes!</p>
<p>irish, I’ve heard that NJ has the highest cutoff, but I can’t find any data. How do you find what these cutoffs were in past years so you can have a general idea of what kids need in each state?</p>
<p>SS, this is what I have (sorry about the formatting)</p>
<p>2005 Cutoff index, #of semi. finalist, # commended::::2004 cutoff index, # semi, # Commended</p>
<p>AL,210,233,226::::208,247,201,</p>
<p>AK,211,40,51::::210,39,43,</p>
<p>AZ,211,271,339::::212,222,375,</p>
<p>AR,202,158,16,</p>
<p>CA,216,1869,4338::::216,1913,4509,</p>
<p>CO,213,234,448::::211,243,430,</p>
<p>CT,220,184,821::::219,207,904,</p>
<p>DE,220,184,821::::217,40,120,</p>
<p>FL,214,688,1390::::214,690,1457,</p>
<p>GA,217,378,1076::::214,398,904,</p>
<p>HA,216,68,191::::214,73,156,</p>
<p>ID,208,96,72::::204,92,46,</p>
<p>IL,216,694,1752::::214,726,1676,</p>
<p>IN,212,344,577::::211,339,518,</p>
<p>IA,209,208,212::::207,206,179,</p>
<p>KS,214,177,354::::212,191,274,</p>
<p>KE,210,234,231::::210,231,255,</p>
<p>LA,209,254,217::::209,274,266,</p>
<p>ME,214,83,172::::211,79,134,</p>
<p>MD,222,331,1677::::222,325,1486,</p>
<p>MA,222,333,1668::::222,337,1771</p>
<p>MI,210,591,632::::209,557,636,</p>
<p>MN,215,321,746::::212,366,606</p>
<p>MS,203,154,21::::200,165,0,</p>
<p>MO,213,344,532::::212,353,511,</p>
<p>MT,207,67,56::::206,64,58,</p>
<p>NB,208,125,87::::205,125,98,</p>
<p>NV,207,89,57::::204,87,36,</p>
<p>NH,215,75,167::::213,71,150,</p>
<p>NJ,221,480,2170::::221,492,2275,</p>
<p>NM,209,108,92::::208,108,84,</p>
<p>NY,218,955,2901::::218,956,3069,</p>
<p>NC,216,387,955::::213,361,760,</p>
<p>ND,204,50,16::::202,53,10,</p>
<p>OH,214,675,1303::::212,723,1233,</p>
<p>OK,208,224,162::::206,222,141,</p>
<p>OR,214,184,368::::213,176,393,</p>
<p>PA,215,757,1603::::215,722,1840,</p>
<p>RI,211,55,94::::213,61,122,</p>
<p>SC,213,190,354::::211,206,296,</p>
<p>SD,205,54,26::::206,60,35,</p>
<p>TN,216,258,569::::213,273,520</p>
<p>TX,216,1273,2810::::216,1248,2936,</p>
<p>UT,204,181,49::::200,196,0</p>
<p>VA,219,413,1462::::219</p>
<p>VT,213,42,97::::213,41,107,</p>
<p>WA,216,313,853::::214,350,755,</p>
<p>WV,202,108,9::::201,114,8,</p>
<p>WI,211,378,475::::209,373,419,</p>
<p>WY,203,35,10::::200,37,0,</p>
<p>D.C,222,85,215::::222,80,243,</p>
<p>Territories,202,30,3::::200,27,0</p>
<p>Outside US,222,49,337::::222,45,344,</p>
<p>Total semifinalist:</p>
<p>2005: 16,146, Total commended: 35,985</p>
<p>2004: 16,326. Total commended: 35,489.</p>
<p>rivj did an unofficial compilation of scores from this past year based on students reporting in with their scores. NM never publishes a list of state cut-offs so the best info is anectdotal. However, I think the list is quite accurate based on at least three states that I have some knowledge of. The national commended cut-off score for last year was 203, of that I am certain.</p>
<p>The table below shows minimums for the 2007 National Merit Program (2005 PSAT) in blue, based on posts to this thread between 8/24/06 and 9/21/06. It includes historical minimums from a variety of sources, which are mostly listed in post #354. State/regions for which 2007 data are not shown did not receive adequate posts to comment on their minimum.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '06->'07
. . . '99 .'01 .'04 .'05 .'06 . .2007 . . . change . . . . . post #s .
Commended 201 202 202 . . 203 . . . +1
AL. 211 208 208 210 212 . . 212 . . . no change . . . 231, 263, 286, 336
AK. 214 211 210 211 212
AZ. 212 210 212 211 212 . . 214 . . . +2 . . . . . . . . 321
AR. 202 201 201 202 206 . . 206 . . . no change . . . 319, 326
CA. 215 215 216 216 217 . . 219 . . . +2 . . . . . . . . 347X,376,380,398,419X,421X,425X,432,511,533
CO. 210 211 211 213 214 .<=217 . . . ? . . . . . . . . . 569
CT. 219 218 219 220 220 . . 221 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . .491, 561
DE. 216 216 217 220 219 .<=219 . . . ? . . . . . . . . . .632
FL. 213 213 214 214 215 . . 215 . . . .no change . . . .274, 277, 324, 637
GA. 211 213 214 217 218 . . 218 . . . .no change. . . .370X, 497
HI. 215 218 214 216 214 . . 218 . . . .+4 (-2 last yr) .271
ID. 203 206 204 208 207
IL. 213 213 214 216 216 . . .218 . . . +2 . . . . . . . . .309, 312, 445, 522
IN. 210 207 211 212 213
IA. 209 209 207 209 210
KS. 212 211 212 214 215 . . 213 . . . -2 . . . . . . . . . 368, 369, 372, 428
KY. 207 208 210 210 212 . . 212 . . . .no change . . . 438
LA. 207 208 209 209 211 . . 209 . . . -2 . . . . . . . . . 644
ME. 214 213 211 214 212
MD. 220 220 222 222 222 . . 223 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . .403, 418, 420, 423, 510
MA. 222 221 222 222 222 . . 224 . . . +2 . . . . . . . . .444
MI. 209 209 209 210 211 . . .211 . . . no change . . . 411X, 473, 475. 476, 480, 482
MN. 214 211 212 215 213 214-15 . . .+1? . . . . . . . . 488
MS. 201 200 200 203 204 . . 204. . . . no change . . .375
MO. 211 210 212 213 213 . . 214 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . .234
MN. 206 204 206 207 211
NB. 208 205 205 208 208
NV. 203 204 204 207 205 208-14 . . . +? . . . . . . . . 373, 489
NH. 213 214 213 215 217 .<=216 . . . -1? . . . . . . . .609
NJ. 220 219 221 221 222 . . .223 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . 485, 514, 527
NM. 207 209 208 209 209
NY. 217 217 218 218 218 . . 221 . . . +3 . . . . . . . . .333, 338, 340, 344, 487, 601
NC. 212 212 213 216 216 . . 215 . . . -1 . . . . . . . . .506
ND. 205 204 202 204 208
OH. 211 211 212 214 215 . . 215 . . . no change . . . 247, 252
OK. 207 208 206 208 208 . . 207 . . . -1 . . . . . . . . .591, 592
OR. 211 213 213 214 214 . . 215 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . .583
PA. 214 213 215 215 215 . . 217 . . . .+2 . . . . . . . . 452, 477, 478, 509, 524
RI. 213 213 213 211 214
SC. 208 208 211 213 212 .<=214 . . . +2? . . . . . . . .272 says '06 was 215 vs. 212 elsewhere, 584
SD. 204 202 206 205 206
TN. 212 212 213 216 216 . . 217 . . . +1 . . . . . . . . .303, 405
TX. 214 214 216 216 217 . . 217 . . . .no change . . . 227, 386, 387, 399, 454, 616
UT. 203 204 200 204 207
VT. 212 213 213 213 218
VA. 218 218 219 219 220 . . 220 . . . .no change . . . 335
WA. 212 213 214 216 216 . . 219 . . . +3 . . . . . . . . .572, 574, 615
WV. 203 202 201 202 206
WI. 210 208 209 211 211 . . 211 . . . .no change . . . 610
WY. 204 201 200 203 204
DC. 222 221 222 222 222
T&C 201 . ? . 200 202 204 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . US Terr’ys and Commwlths
out 222 . ? . 222 222 222 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .schools outside the US
NE/MidAtl boarding schools . 225 . . . ? . . . . . . . . . .621
. . . '99 .'01 .'04 .'05 .'06 . .2007 . . . change . . . . . post #s . </p>
<p>Here’s the original link <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=74297&page=45&highlight=psat[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=74297&page=45&highlight=psat</a></p>
<p>Thanks so much! Wow, what a big range of score cut-offs…</p>
<p>My 10th grade daughter is taking it on Saturday. I had no idea some places take it during the week. I suppose they give a different test on Saturday? At her school it’s recommended for 10th graders to take it for practice, and a few freshman take it as well. Students had to pay $12 in cash a few weeks ago. I got her to at least do the practice test in the bulletin. Her math curve in the booklet was brutal and the writing one was easy. Does that vary from test date to test date?</p>
<p>I understand that the test is set up to provide opportunities across a geographic spectrum, but it’s hard to look at the variation from NJ at 221 (or 223, uggh) to states with much lower cut-offs, considering how much money is at stake. We would gladly consider all offers.</p>
<p>Yes MomOFour - the tests are different each day it is offered and the curves will be different, but not by much. You can purchase a couple of past PSAT booklets from the CB store for $3 each which may be a good idea for the juniors taking the test for “real”, but not so necessary for soph’s because it’s just practice anyway. Here’s the CB store link <a href=“http://store.collegeboard.com/enter.do[/url]”>Store App;