PSAT: National Merit Scores Are In - Did you make the cut?

Written by Lauren Kahn, Educational Consultant / CEO of Lone Star Ed Consulting, LLC
512-294-6608  Lonestaredconsulting@gmail.com

Updated on August 31, 2010
Before we delve into the "overachiever" scores for the 2008 PSAT (Class of 2010), I want to put things in perspective. If you are a national merit semi finalist for the 2009/2010 school year, you performed exceptionally well on this standardized test and scored in the top 1% of your state. Bravo to you. To see the next steps in the process to cementing your place as a National Merit Finalist and possible scholarship recipient, click here.

According to the College Board, the average Selection Index for students in eleventh grade is about a 141. Note: Only students in eleventh grade are eligible to enter NMSC scholarship programs. This score is equivalent to about a 1000 on the CR and Math combined for the SAT. The PSAT Selection Index, which is used to determine eligibility in National Merit Scholarship Corporation programs (NMSC), is the sum of the three scores in each test section (CR + M + W). The Selection Index ranges from 60 to 240.

Therefore, your chances of getting into Stanford or Harvard are not completely shot if you did not score above a 210 on the PSAT. It is a preliminary SAT and is meant to be a practice test to see how you function on a standardized test in a pressure cooker environment. SAT Prep or ACT Prep can greatly improve your scores. It is possible to game the tests to an extent. Contact me directly if you would like advisement on test prep companies in Texas.

College consultant, Nancy Greisemer says, "Each year, a magic wand gets waived over the total universe of PSAT scores, and a list of merit scholarship finalists appears. These finalists are invited to compete for a host of benefits ranging from scholarship money to automatic college admission. They’re lauded in the press and labeled as among the most distinguished high school students in the nation. What did they do to earn all this fame and fortune—take one test on one day. And if luck would have it, they happened to live in a state where their PSAT/NMSQT Selection Index—a combination of math, critical reading, and writing scores—happened to be above the cut-off."

The methodology for determining who gets the merit scholar nod is loosely described on the NMSQT website. To begin the process, high school students must take the PSAT in October of their junior year. In the spring after the test, 50,000 high scorers are contacted for program recognition as “commended” or “semifinalist” based on a selectivity index generated by the combined PSAT scores. Last year’s national cutoff for recognition was 201.

High scorers are then notified of their final National Merit status in September of senior year. Students who received a score below the semifinalist cutoff specific to their state will be “commended." Even if you move states after you took the PSAT, you are subject to the score selection index cutoff for the state you were enrolled at for high school during the administering of the PSAT. Those above the cutoff—about 16,000 students—are invited to continue in the competition as semifinalists. Approximately 90% of the semifinalists eventually earn the finalist distinction.

Each state has a different cutoff and these cutoffs vary by year. Below is a chart listing selectivity indexes for 2010 (PSAT Administered 2008):

Rank	State	2010	Rank	State	2010
1	DC	221	25	Indiana	211
1	Maryland	221	25	Kansas	211
1	Massachusetts	221	25	Missouri	211
1	New Jersey	221	25	Ohio	211
5	Delaware	219	25	South Carolina	211
6	California	218	32	Arizona	210
6	Connecticut	218	33	Idaho	209
6	New York	218	33	Iowa	209
6	Virginia	218	33	Kentucky	209
10	Rhode Island	217	33	Michigan	209
10	Washington	217	37	Alabama	208
12	Texas	216	37	New Mexico	208
13	Colorado	215	39	Louisiana	207
13	Minnesota	215	39	Nebraska	207
15	Georgia	214	39	Oklahoma	207
15	Hawaii	214	39	Wisconsin	207
15	Illinois	214	43	Utah	206
15	North Carolina	214	44	South Dakota	205
15	Pennsylvania	214	45	Montana	204
20	Maine	213	46	Arkansas	203
20	New Hampshire	213	46	Mississippi	203
20	Oregon	213	46	West Virginia	203
20	Tennessee	213	49	Nevada	202
20	Vermont	213	49	North Dakota	202
25	Alaska	211	50	Wyoming	201
25	Florida	211

* State Chart created by: Nancy Greisemer of College Explorations

Because scholarship money, prestige, and college admissions are at stake, the NMQSC is a huge deal and knowing the cutoff for your state can give you some guidance as to whether or not you qualify as a National Merit Semi-Finalist. These scores above will tell you if you are close to the cut off score for your state. Although you will not the precise cutoff score for national merit for the 2011 graduating class until September of 2010.

Imagine living in California and scoring a 215—an outstanding score that would earn semifinalist status in most of the country, and definitely in all of your neighboring states, but because of your address, you will only be commended. Do you think they should nationalize the scores or leave them as determined by state index?

                                                          

Local PSAT/NMSQT cutoffs:

Year Students will Graduate	2011 (Actual)	2010	2009	2008
Texas	215	216	215	215
Oklahoma	209	207	208	207
Louisiana	207	207	208	206

As of August 31, 2010, the below national merit finalist cut off scores were posted on Talk Confidential for 2011 NMSQT. (Not all states have been revealed.)

These scores were not confirmed by the National Merit Corporation and are considered unofficial until stated otherwise:

Alabama 211, Arkansas 214, Colorado 214, Florida 211, Georgia 215, Iowa 209, Illinois 218, Indiana 219, Kansas 211, Kentucky 210, Michigan 224, Minnesota 216, Missouri 210, Montanta 208, North Carolina 215, New York 221, Ohio 212, Oklahoma 209, Tennessee 218, Texas 215, 

As other state cut off scores come in, I will update the list.

* PSAT State Scores were verified from the College Planning Simplified.

FREE TIP from LONE STAR ED CONSULTING:
If you are a boarding school student, there are separate boarding school region cutoffs for the PSAT. According to a primary source at the NMSC, the cutoff scores have not been determined yet by the National Merit Scholarship office. Stay tuned for more information.

Related Blogs:
PSAT
SAT

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The information was provided by Lauren Kahn, CEO of Lone Star Ed Consulting. If you would like more information about Lone Star Ed Consulting's college planning services, please e-mail Lauren Kahn or call her at 512-294-6608. You can also view LSEDC's brochure here.



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