Hey guys, I've just gotten my PSAT scores and they're pretty good, if I do say so myself. Still, I'm not able to figure out whether it's good enough for National Merit. Can anyone give me a little more guidance about what score on the PSAT qualifies for National Merit? I'd really appreciate it!
Congrats on your PSAT score! It's a bit complicated to determine if it will qualify you for the National Merit Scholarship because the qualifying score is not uniform across all states. National Merit uses a Selection Index that's different from your total PSAT score.
To calculate your Selection Index score, National Merit doubles the sum of your Reading, Writing and Language, and Math scores. This can range from 48-228. For an idea of what kind of score you'd need to be competitive, the cutoffs for the semi-finalist Selection Index in recent years have ranged from around 214 to 223, again, varying by state.
This means even high-achieving students could miss the cutoff in states with particularly competitive subscores, while those in less competitive states might qualify with slightly lower scores. The specific cutoff for qualifying as a semi-finalist is not announced until September of the following year after you've taken the test.
I hope this gives you a somewhat clearer idea of the landscape. It's awesome that you're thinking about this, and it shows your ambition in the process! Good job and very best of luck to you!
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