If you're a high achieving student, there is an added benefit to taking the PSAT:
You are eligible for a National Merit Scholarship, providing you:
- Are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Are taking the PSAT in the eleventh grade
- Are enrolled in high school fulltime
- Have an excellent academic record
- Plan to complete the Merit Scholarship application
Please note the word eligible. Of the 1.5 million students sit for the PSAT each year, 8,200 actually take home Merit scholarships. And the biggest cut is based on your PSAT results.
Your test results will include an index score, the sum of the three tests. For example, if you receive a 55 in Math, a 40 in Critical Reading and a 45 in Writing, your index score is 140. That index score is compared with those of everyone else who took the PSAT in your state. In order to stay in the running for a Merit Scholarship, your index has to be above the cutoff for your state. Click here to see the minimum qualifying scores by state for the last three years.
If you are one of the 50,000 highest scorers by state, you'll qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Eleven months after taking the PSAT (in September of your senior year), you'll learn whether you're one of the 34,000 students who have won a Letter of Commendation... or one of the 16,000 named as National Merit Semifinalists.
As a Letter of Commendation winner, you've won an award that will be an enormous plus in your college application. And while you won't qualify for a Merit Scholarship, you will be eligible for thousands of grants from businesses and organizations.
The 16,000 semifinalists are asked to submit academic information and letters of recommendation; and in February of their senior year, 15,000 will be designated as finalists. Corporate sponsors will give scholarships to 1,500 finalists, and the final 8,200 students will win National Merit Scholarships.
As a scholarship winner, you'll receive $2,500 from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and you'll qualify for a raft of other scholarships from colleges, organizations and businesses. You'll also receive a certificate, a good deal of local publicity and a big advantage in the college admission process.
If you've made it all the way to scholarship winner, you should feel quite proud of yourself. You're one of only 0.5 percent of all of the people who took the PSAT to come this far.
