Each year about 1.6 million juniors take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) in the hopes of qualifying for the National Merit Scholarship Program.
But what score do you actually need to earn Semifinalist distinction? In this guide, we'll tell you what PSAT/NMSQT score you need in order to qualify for Semifinalist status in your state and potentially move on to win a National Merit scholarship.
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The exact PSAT/NMSQT score for National Merit consideration varies from year to year and by state, but it's always the top 1% of students (about 16,000 juniors) who qualify as Semifinalists. Around 15,000 students in this group then move on to become National Merit Finalists, and about 7,500 of these students eventually win scholarship money.
To be named a Semifinalist, you need to score in the top 1% of your state—not the whole country. So what scores do you need to qualify?
To answer this question, you must first understand how the PSAT/NMSQT is scored.
The PSAT/NMSQT is scored on a scale of 320-1520. In addition to that composite score, your score report will tell you your individual test scores for the two sections: Math and Reading and Writing. These scores fall between 160 and 760. For National Merit eligibility, these section test scores are the most important score types.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation adds each section test score together, multiplies that sum by 2, and then divides by 10 to create a National Merit Selection Index Score, which will range from 48 to 228. The resulting Selection Index score determines your National Merit eligibility.
For example, let's say you got a 530 on Math and a 500 on Reading and Writing. The sum of these scores comes out to 1030. You would then multiply this by 2 and divide the result by 10 to get your Selection Index Score: 206.
In equation form, it looks like this:
((530+500) * 2)/10 = 206
Unfortunately, a Selection Index of 206 would not qualify you for National Merit Semifinalist status. What score do you need, then, to achieve this recognition? Read on for the full list of National Merit cutoffs in each state!
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We've compiled a list of the qualifying Selection Index scores for National Merit Semifinalist by state. These cutoffs applied to students who took the PSAT in the fall of 2021.
