National Merit Scholarship Program
High school juniors may qualify for National Merit Scholarships by receiving
a high score on the PSAT taken in October of the junior year.
Juniors need a high selectivity index score in the 99 percentile range. Not
all students in the 99 percentile range will be National Merit Semifinalists.
Each state has a different cut off for the selection of National Merit
Semifinalists.
The score is obtained from the total of three sections on the PSAT: the
critical reading, math and writing scores. The highest score would be 240
(80+80+80=240) since each section of the PSAT ranges from 20 to 80
points.
If a student receives a high PSAT score as a sophomore, the student will
not be considered for a National Merit Scholarship. The PSAT must be
taken in the junior year in order to be considered for National Merit status.
Not all colleges provide National Merit scholarships. However, it is a great
honor to be a National Merit Semifinalist and to compete for National Merit
Scholarships. Colleges are very interested in students who are National
Merit Semifinalists.
Student who are National Merit Semifinalists have an opportunity to
compete for National Merit Scholarships. The student must take a SAT test
and send a letter of recommendation from their counselor. This information
will be mailed to the student.
National Merit Scholarships can come from the colleges or from corporate
sponsors. The Ivies, Stanford and other highly selective colleges do not
participate in the program.
See the Official Student Guide to the PSAT/NMSQT for a list of college merit
scholarship sponsors. This booklet is available from you high school or at
the NMSC website at: www.nationalmerit.org
PSAT results are mailed to the high school in December.
Students will be notified if they receive National Merit status in
September of their senior year. It takes a long time to compile the
information for each state. Some students who receive a score close to the
cutoff will receive commended status. In California, the commended
numbers range from 200 to 217 for the Class of 2008.. A student who has a
score of 218 to 240 would be a national merit semifinalist. The National
Merit Program will not release the score cutoffs. Each high school principal
will receive notification of National Merit Semi-Finalists and Commended
students in September. Current juniors need to look at last year's scores
for their state. If your high school is unable to provide this information, you
could call a private high school in your state or an excellent public high
school with many high achieving students. Hopefully, you will get the
information you need.
Qualifying Scores for the Class of 2008 National Merit Semifinalists:
Alabama 209
Alaska 213
Arizona 211
Arkansas 201
California 218
Colorado 213
Connecticut 217
Delaware 219
District of Columbia 223
Florida 212
Georgia 214
Hawaii 213
Idaho 204
Illinois 213
Indiana 213
Iowa 209
Kansas 212
Kentucky 208
Louisiana 206
Maine 211
Maryland 221
Massachusetts 223
Michigan 209
Minnesota 213
Mississippi 202
Missouri 211
Montana 207
Nebraska 207
Nevada 208
New Hampshire 215
New Jersey 221
New Mexico 208
New York 219
North Carolina 214
North Dakota 202
Ohio 211
Oklahoma 207
Oregon 213
Pennsylvania 214
Rhode Island 212
South Carolina 210
South Dakota 203
Tennessee 213
Texas 215
Utah 202
Vermont 216
Virginia 217
Washington 215
West Virginia 200
Wisconsin 208
Wyoming 200
National Merit Scholarships
