National Merit Scholarship Program has released the 2016 PSAT qualifying scores.**
UPDATE 9/25/2017 New information on National Merit Semifinalist 2018 Cutoff Qualifying PSAT Scores.
(UPDATE: SEE NEW POST DECEMBER 2016 FOR 2018 GRADUATES)
The National Merit cutoff score for Texas has gone even higher this graduating year – 2016. The SemiFinalist cutoff score for Texas is 220. The race is getting ever tighter and it’s debatable how relevant it is when qualifying scores represent such a small different between abilities. But there are quite a few excellent schools who use National Merit qualifications to give out excellent academic scholarships, so it makes sense to pay attention to the PSAT. In any case, studying for the PSAT won’t be a total waste, since it does help prepare you to take the SAT later. (It’s original purpose, as in “Preliminary” SAT.)
From our son’s experience, here are my tips on preparing for the PSAT and SAT. Our son achieved a score high enough to be a National Merit Semifinalist. We are very proud of all his hard work (and thankful for a little luck.) But also, in case you haven’t heard yet, the PSAT and SAT are changing, with the PSAT taken in fall 2015 already reflecting the changes.
Here are the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalist Selection Index Qualifying Scores by state from the National Merit Scholarship Program Guide September 2015. Students who make this cut-off will need to submit a “confirming” SAT score (see my guide to best study aids) along with their application for the next stage of the competition in October.
** UPDATE 1/7/2016** The scores below are from the 2014 PSAT test. Qualifying scores were released in 2015 for 2016 graduating seniors. The PSAT scores released today for the newly designed 2015 PSAT, the National Merit Qualifying test for graduating Seniors in 2017, are on a different scale than in past years. I’m working on a post on how to interpret 2015 PSAT scores. And I’ve now complete a post about how to predict which 2015 PSAT scores might qualify for National Merit Semifinalist.
UPDATE 12/12/2016 – For a prediction of 2018 National Merit Semifinalist cutoff scores see Compass Prep Predictions National Merit Semifinalist Cutoffs Class of 2018
If it looks like you’re going to miss the cut-off score, please remember that there are many paths to success. In fact, I’m beginning to think that if you expend a lot of energy trying to attain success as the way education defines it, you may actually hurt your chances for success. Check out my posts about Outliers.
Alabama 209
Alaska 206
Arizona 215
Arkansas 204
California 223
Colorado 215
Connecticut 220
Delaware 216
Florida 214
Georgia 218
Hawaii 214
Idaho 208
Illinois 215
Indiana 213
Iowa 208
Kansas 213
Kentucky 210
Louisiana 211
Maine 211
Maryland 222
Massachusetts 223
Michigan 210
Minnesota 214
Mississippi 209
Missouri 209
Montana 204
Nebraska 209
Nevada 211
New Hampshire 213
New Jersey 225
New Mexico 208
New York 219
North Carolina 215
North Dakota 202
Ohio 215
Oklahoma 208
Oregon 215
Pennsylvania 217
Rhode Island 212
South Carolina 211
South Dakota 202
Tennessee 212
Texas 220
Utah 206
Vermont 214
Virginia 222
Washington 219
West Virginia 202
Wisconsin 208
Wyoming 202
District of Columbia 225
U.S. territories & Commonwealth 202
Outside the U.S. 225
Are these cutoffs based on the new 228 question scale instead of 240? i got a 205 and am from South Carolina and most websites say that the range will be from 197-202 for SC, but yours says 211. Surely this is wrong?
Never mind it seems these are class of 2016 numbers.
Yes, that’s correct. There are a few charts out there claiming to be new charts for the class of 2017, but from my research, lots of people think there is no way to calculate them correctly. It appears that the best approximation is to calculate what the equivalent of your new score is to old scores using concordance tables from the College Board. I explain how to do that in a new post: What 2015 PSAT score will qualify for National Merit? http://www.highschoolcollegesuccess.com/what-2015-psat-score-will-qualify-for-national-merit/
Ah. The more i research about this it seems a 205 will not qualify. Anyways thanks for the help
Just remember that no one really knows. 🙂 Even if you don’t qualify though, you did REALLY well and it’s something to be proud of. On a different day or a different test, your score might have been higher. You might be interested in my post, DO PSAT SCORES AND NATIONAL MERIT NUMBERS MEAN ANYTHING? http://www.highschoolcollegesuccess.com/psat-scores-national-merit-mean-anything/
In any case, with a score like that you’re likely to do well on the SAT or ACT qualify for good scholarships that way! And I’ sure you’ll end up at a great school and do well.