Talk:PSAT/NMSQT

There is not a strict requirement that the student be a US citizen in order to be eligible for the National Merit Scholarship Competition. That should be fixed, as it is currently incorrect.

-Citizenship-

From http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php

3. be a citizen of the United States; or be a U.S. lawful permanent resident (or have applied for permanent residence, the application for which has not been denied) and intend to become a U.S. citizen at the earliest opportunity allowed by law.

Not now a U.S. citizen? Click here for documentation required from scholarship candidates who have not yet become U.S. citizens. (Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or above is required.)

If the original source says you have to be A or B, and the article says you have to be A to qualify, that makes the article at least misleading.

Given these facts I think that changing it back to read a strict requirement of citizenship would seem to say that non-citizens are just not deserving of such an award, which is not really a tone that I think Wikipedia should take.

As for a way to fix it, one could break it up into several sentences to include all the above information. I think leaving it without that citizenship/residency requirement/applied for residency requirement is fine as seemingly the vast majority of students in high schools in the US have at least applied for a green card. Though it does make it more accurate to mention all the information, just saying that one must be a US citizen is incorrect and misleading, at least in my opinion. --JVittes

Minimum selection index
where did you find the minumum selection index by state? I'm trying to find out the minimum for Minnesota.

172.162.25.97 22:06, 25 October 2007 (UTC) Hey, I'd like to know the minimum for Texas. Anybody know?76.186.52.69 (talk) 02:55, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Ages of Students?
Whats this about 7th graders taking the test? Prove it, you cant say that.

It's a well known fact that seventh graders take the PSAT. I for one took it in the eigth grade, so it isn't so far-fetched to believe that seventh graders take the test.TheKid 20:18, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

cheating
Cheating is actually quite easy. Going back to a previous section is usually undetected, as well as using the calculator when you're not supposed to O.O

Well, I recently took a test and i think the security is low. on the back of the answer sheet is all that stuff you're not supposed to fill in, what if someone filled in a point circle just enough for the computer to notice? Would people catch it what with all the tests that they have to grade? i don't like the idea of posting this, but someone has to say it! P.S. no, i never did this. if i did, they would have caught it. they have to be careful to watch me, or i doodle on the answer sheet. they'd notice me if i even thought about doing this.

EDIT.. I wouldn't reccoment doing this, but you do make a good point. The problem is that there is only one monitor, and twenty to fourty students per room. It's important to remember that cheating is just not worth it. Getting caught and potentially ruining your future is completely wasteful.


 * It was perfectly possible to cheat, whether by just copying off of people, or ignoring the timers, or whatever. Fortunately for myself, I've never had anyone worth cheating off of in my class. I must say, this article did help me calm down after receiving my letter about being a semifinalist tonight. Actually though, that section strikes me to be original research. We should really work a citation into it somewhere. --tjstrf 04:43, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

broken link
The link to verbal under the word critical reading doesn't go anyplace useful. mickey 01:02, 18 October 2006 (UTC) b

Source on the Dec. 4 to 8?
What is the source on that? I am curious, seeing as it is the 13th and I still have yet to receive my results... - Jarn 04:49, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Nevermind, I found it. However, it would have been nice to have the source cited ;). It is http://www.collegeboard.com/prof/counselors/tests/psat/news.html in case anyone wants to know. - Jarn 05:03, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Statistics
I'm trying to figure out what scores become part of the 55,000 people they chose for the NMS. The average score for juniors, I was told, is about 150, and the curve it makes is pretty normal (bell curve). So all I would need then is the standard deviation for the scores, which I don't have. Does anyone know where I could find this information, or anything more specific than what the college board says? → &ensp; J A R E D &ensp;(t)&ensp; 21:46, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

The 50,000 are the students nationwide with the highest Selection Index Scores as reported (with students' permission) to the College Plans Reporting Service. MNPH 03:13, 2 January 2007 (UTC)MNPH

Problem
I've received my scores already, about a week ago. So CB has already sent them out, at least to some schools. → &ensp; J A R E D &ensp;(t)&ensp; 20:13, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
 * That would be correct. I received my scores and letters from the colleges I selected indicating that they had received my scores a couple weeks ago as well. --tjstrf talk 20:30, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Year
Students may take the test during any year -- as allowed by the student's school -- but it is only the test results from the junior year (assuming a student on a four-year high school plan) that count toward consideration for the National Merit and Commended Scholar listings and scholarship consideration.

MNPH 03:10, 2 January 2007 (UTC)MNPH

As far I can tell, you could potentially take the PSAT as early as you like, but the lowest grade they consider is 10th- ie. you can take the test in ninth grade, but you will get an artificially low score because you will be compared to tenth graders. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.246.74.177 (talk) 20:33, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

The black Scholarship Bubble
What's up with the black scholarship bubble? Isn't that slightly racist? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.45.218.242 (talk) 23:42, 24 October 2007 (UTC)


 * This bubble is for Blacks entering the National Achievement Scholarship Program, a scholarship that only African Americans are eligable. Since Blacks tend to be disadvantaged and are often less likely to receive other scholarships, this helps to even the playing field and gives Blacks a fair chance at a scholarship.  Dragon 280 (talk) 17:46, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
 * That's not true. The "bubble" was created during a time of segregation. It exists today but it isn't just a matter of being "black". You're held to the same standards as the others. There are also similar scholarship programs for every ethnicity(including white ones) YVNP (talk) 17:50, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

After 45 years of integration, the "disadvantaged" card is getting a tad stale.

Er, could you enumerate any institutional or governmental scholarships, other than those following the specific terms of an endowment or trust, that provide skollies only to Caucasians??

In Florida, the Board of Regents scholarship program and state-mandated testing were simply abolished in the late 1960s because no black students were being awarded grants.They weren't being discriminated against; they just didn't have high enough test scores. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.92.79.239 (talk) 15:04, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

The various personal information sections are to determine eligibility to certain scholarships and colleges limited to certain minorities, such as Morehouse College or Lane College. If the person taking the test approves, this information, along with their test scores, will be sent to colleges and scholarship foundations for which they meet the eligibility criteria. KarkityVantas (talk) 03:02, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

Bullshit
A sum total of 2 errors in the entire test coupled with a dismal GPA produced no scholarship whatsoever back in 2002. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Aadieu (talk • contribs) 00:55, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

The Twitter Jokes
someones should add a section about how it tended on twitter with 700k tweets talking about questions and making memes... idk it was pretty funny EoRdE6 (talk) 18:27, 16 October 2014 (UTC)


 * I've just undone the vandalesque jokes inappropriately made in the introduction. You can consider adding a section for the phenomenon as long as it follows the rules, although it probably won't belong for some reason or another(someone with a more encyclopedic knowledge of WP: could probably point out why). For now, this page needs to be watched for in case more vandalism occurs. KarkityVantas (talk) 02:53, 17 October 2014 (UTC)


 * I'll keep an eye out for it... has this problem once a year... EoRdE6 (talk) 15:27, 20 October 2014 (UTC)

Not historically accurate
I took the test in the 1960s, & the NMSQT was completely separate from, & unrelated to, the PSAT. The later was later used to 'validate' the former's results, to advance a semi-finalist to a finalist, but otherwise the NMSQT was a stand-alone, four-hour exam. This should be mentioned, perhaps as evidence of declining academic standards in the U.S., if nothing else.

Since 1971?
“Popular culture The PSAT has been administered every fall since 1971...” Confusing. When was PSAT developed? First administered? First administered on a large scale? I took the PSAT before 1971. AndersW (talk) 22:50, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

National Merit Scholarship Corporation reports it’s been around since 1955. Established in 1955, National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) ...

AndersW (talk) 22:56, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

Article contradicts itself
The section Levels of recognition contains this passage:

"There are three levels of recognition: "Commended", Semi-Finalists, and Finalists. About 34,000 students, which is 3-4% of all PSAT takers, are "commended" and receive Letters of Commendation. The "commended" cut-off is determined at whichever score yields the 96th percentile nationally."

If the cut-off is at whichever score yields the 96th percentile nationally, then there are always 4% of the test takers whose score is above the cutoff.

So why does the article state "3-4%" ??? That makes no sense.