LEAP

Stephanie Meyer Twilight author, M. Night Shyamalan movie director, Jeffrey Bezos CEO of Amazon.com, John Roberts Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, Bill Gates former Microsoft Chairman, Ben Bernanke Chairman of the US Federal Reserve have one thing in common.  They were each National Merit Scholarship winners chosen from a pool of 15,000 National Merit Finalists.  How did they get there?

Each October more than 1.5 million high school juniors enter the National Merit Scholarship race by taking the PSAT test through Collegeboard at their local high school.  The PSAT doubles only in the junior year as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT).  Students must be a U.S. citizen or intend to become one at their earliest opportunity.

In September of the senior year, almost a year after the PSAT is taken, announcements are made of semifinalists (approximately 16,000 of some 50,000 high scorers).  Those in the top 50,000 not making the Semifinalist cut are recognized as Commended Students and still may be eligible for Special corporate and business sponsored scholarships announced later.

Often it is stated that National Merit Commended and Semifinalist students are the top 50,000 scorers by PSAT Selection Index (critical reading + math + writing scores = selection index) in the United States.  This is not entirely accurate as the qualifying score varies from state to state.  So for the class of 2011 while a 208 selection index made the Semifinalist cut for a student attending school (not where you live) in Kentucky, that same student would not have qualified with Ohio’s 212 cut off and would have been far off the 223 Massachusetts needed selection index.  For the class of 2011, Commended Student benchmark was 201.

Looking at a several year history for any state will give a small range of scores a student can anticipate needing to hit to qualify as a Semifinalist.  For Ohio for the classes of 2008 to 2011, the qualifying scores have ranged from 210 to 213 making a score of 213 seem safe.

Who then has the potential of hitting that magic number?  Unfortunately, qualifying is based on a single day snapshot of how you tested on that day.  Even the best test takers have an off day.  LEAP has had students with a sophomore PSAT selection index of 185 and higher make it to Semifinalist status.  Could this be the year we take a 180 to qualifying?  It just might be.  Then there’s the student from last year who had a 195 in his sophomore year, did everything right leading up to the test, but had an off-day and made Commended Student, not Semifinalist.  There are no guarantees, but taking the right prep approach greatly increases your chances and ultimately will also result in higher SAT and even ACT scores.

National Merit Timeline:

• October Junior Year:  take the PSAT/NMSQT
• December Junior Year: receive PSAT results.
• September Senior Year:  National Merit Commended and Semifinalists announced.
• By October 31 Senior Year:  Semifinalists complete National Merit Scholarship Application along with the high school who submits recommendation and transcript showing excellent grades.  SAT scores must also be submitted and must be in-line with PSAT scores.  While Semifinalist qualification only relies on meeting the benchmark score for a specific state, Finalists must demonstrate academic excellence across the board.
• February Senior Year:  Finalists are announced.
• March to mid-June Senior Year:  Scholarships awards are announced. 

In addition to the National Merit Scholarships, some 200 or so colleges offer varying degrees of scholarships to National Merit Finalists and even Semifinalists.  These can be one time awards or renewable ranging from $500 to full tuition for four years.  These awards can change from year to year, just as the qualifying scores do, so don’t rely on information from years past or hearsay.  Check your facts!
 
Article by:
Lisa Mader
President, LEAP
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