Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums High School Sept for NM semi-finalist cutoff??

Really, it takes till September till they find announce the cut-off and send emails. This is going to drive me up the wall. It takes that long for National Merit to figure out the cutoff? And this year when it's a new test, who knows what the cutoff will be.

Seems DS did better than expected and I'm pleased with his results. He barely studied, didn't get the extra time he was promised. (Because of a administrative error.) And the kid still pulled a score that College board is listing as in 99%. (Excellent score on the math, missed a bit more on English part.) Seems he is right on the cusp of what some web-sites are predicting might be the cutoff for CA.

After he took it and I found out about the glitch where he didn't get the extra time I figured OH well.. It's not a huge deal. This test doesn't matter for colleges anyway. But now that I've found out he might be right on the edge it's going to drive me nuts, we have to wait till September to find out?

Anyone else in the same boat?

Of course I find out today that he is also currently getting a D (last I checked it was a low B) in English with only two weeks left of the semester. I know how a kid who can get top scores on the PSAT can be doing so poorly but it drives me NUTS.. And I'm not sure what to do at this point. Hopefully his SAT scores are going to help him get into college, his GPA certainly isn't.

Congrats to your DS on the great score.

Yes, it seems ridiculous, but September is when NMSF are announced. There is no official cutoff announcement, but folks figure it out from which kids made it and which didn't when the NMSF list is issued. Plenty of discussion on College Confidential. I think significantly more kids took the test this year too, and the number of NMSF will remain at 16,000, so that makes things even more difficult to predict (in addition to the new,wacky scoring of the PSAT). I am glad middle kid is a 2016, then the youngest is 2022 (we'll figure out the scoring by then).

And don't stress about it too much. If the kid doesn't choose a school with a great NMSF/NMF scholarship, it doesn't mean that much - nice to put on the college apps but not a huge boost to applications at top schools.

I'm sure he'll do well on the SAT - tell him to concentrate on the GPA. In the past, usually one C on the transcript makes it from NMSF to NMF, but 2 or more Cs often does not. There are some good discussions on College Confidential about high SAT scores and lowish GPAs - there was one a year or so ago about a kid with a 2100 and a 2.5, and he got into a number of colleges, and I think he got some merit aid.

Well, we still don't know DDs scores. It seems our entire HS is one of many for whom the computer access of scores is not working correctly. The guidance counselor is working on it, and college board seems to be repeating the mantra that there is nothing wrong with the system, despite the fact that there are tons of angry messages on their Facebook site. Apparently it was extremely difficult to get anyone on the phone there- we didn't even try. DD is only a sophomore anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

Gotta wonder about the results, when a company whose sole purpose is testing botches the release of scores so thoroughly, especially after the month-long initial delay in the release.

Kids with high test scores and low grades may want to look at colleges in Great Britain. Apparently, they focus on almost completely on the test scores of American students (e.g. SAT + AP or IB). You can check out the requirements for international students on the college websites.

We didn't find out from school. Does your DD have a College Board account? That is where we found out. I recommend it as it's how you register for the SAT's.

Long story, but the short of it is that yes, she has an account (has taken AP exams, etc.) The access requires some students (according to college confidential it affects students in large areas of several states) to enter a "PSAT access code"- which is unknown to students or, apparently to guidance counselors. Our counselor has been unable to gain access to said codes even though they have supposedly been provided by CB. The phones there are not being answered. Currently the current line from CB is to expect an email with the code by Saturday.

Does the ability to see your scores depend on whether you signed up through your school versus directly with College Board? (And thanks for the prompt to check the score, Bluemagic, I thought weren't out until next week.)

Only if you school is affected by this access code business. DDs account shows that she has not taken any tests through CB (which is not true.) Other students have been able to access scores from previous years but are told (on their account) that they don't have any PSAT results on file. Sounds like there are lots of variations on the error messages people are receiving, and the only advice is wait for the email.

Bluemagic, once again we have twin sons of different mothers. 99% ile! but Ds in class.

What does the Selection Index mean? It sounds like they use it later when actually selecting the scholars, but how is it used?

We just got an email with the access code. Perhaps you will get one shortly.