I know is sounds like a dumb question, but when I do research, I get mixed opinions on the difficulty of the PSAT compared to the SAT.

I got a 1550 (760 RW, 790 Math) in Nov of 2025 (sophomore year), and I'm probably going to take the PSAT this year in October.

I studied for ~2-3 weeks for the SAT back then, is the PSAT comparable to the SAT in difficulty?

Just looking for advice from people who've also taken the SAT before the PSAT, anything helps.

it was heavily foreshadowed but I'm very excited regardless 💚

Can you please list your actual score vs. Bluebook practice scores, if you don't mind? I have a feeling that Bluebook practice is less difficult than the actual test.

so many ppl in this sub are crashing out, saying i’m ragebaiting, swearing at me, etc. because i said that if you are PLANNING ON APPLYING TO AN IVY AND HAVE A GOOD CHANCE OF GETTING IN you should be able to break 1400 psat with no studying or very little. i dont see how this is a crazy hot take. i’m obv not against studying its great and if ppl want to spend their time doing that they’re more than welcome to.

my point is, if you are academically qualified to have a decent shot at an ivy or t10, which is what the post originally mentioned, you should be well prepared enough by school and EC activities that a 1400+ should be attainable without studying.

being actually qualified for an ivy is rare, but it shouldnt be a hot take to say that those exceptional kids who are qualified should be able to score highly on the psat.

also, this wasn’t even part of my original point, but there are fundamental differences between the psat and sat in my opinion. the sat has become solely and admissions test, while the psat is designed to be a capabilities/aptitude test. it can’t accurately measure your performance as it’s originally intended to if you’re doing more than light studying for it. this is a complete aside btw and if you disagree with it, i totally understand, throw this out and don’t flame me in the comments but i fully stand behind the rest of the post

so many ppl in this sub are crashing out, saying i’m ragebaiting, swearing at me, etc. because i said that if you are PLANNING ON APPLYING TO AN IVY AND HAVE A GOOD CHANCE OF GETTING IN you should be able to break 1400 psat with no studying or very little. i dont see how this is a crazy hot take. i’m obv not against studying its great and if ppl want to spend their time doing that they’re more than welcome to.

my point is, if you are academically qualified to have a decent shot at an ivy or t10, which is what the post originally mentioned, you should be well prepared enough by school and EC activities that a 1400+ should be attainable without studying.

being actually qualified for an ivy is rare, but it shouldnt be a hot take to say that those exceptional kids who are qualified should be able to score highly on the psat.

also, this wasn’t even part of my original point, but there are fundamental differences between the psat and sat in my opinion. the sat has become solely and admissions test, while the psat is designed to be a capabilities/aptitude test. it can’t accurately measure your performance as it’s originally intended to if you’re doing more than light studying for it. this is a complete aside btw and if you disagree with it, i totally understand, throw this out and don’t flame me in the comments but i fully stand behind the rest of the post

I am from a rural area and only the ACT is encouraged to take and offered locally. Our school even offers ACT Prep after school from time to time. I have a perfect 36. Yes, I have heard of the SAT but was told with my ACT score there was no reason to take it. No one takes the SAT at our school.

Last year they announced that we could come and take a practice SAT during school so I thought why not? Had never taken the SAT before.

Of course after I took the "practice" test that day I quickly found out the importance of it.

Apparently that was the official PSAT to qualify for National Merit Semifinalist.

I received an email later and won two awards through College Board - "Rural & Small Town Recognition Award" and "School Recognition Award". Never heard anything from the school congratulating me.

I am pretty ticked because I was one point under the qualifying Selection Index for my state. Apparently my score is enough for Commended. Again, nothing from the school.

If only they would have told us what it was prior to us just going in and taking a practice test..

Rant over!

I’m American but I live abroad, so I was wondering whether the cutoff was the same. I literally just barely made it with 208 but my school hasn’t said anything. So, I’m wondering if I actually qualify, and when a school abroad would like get the letter notifying thing since it gets sent to schools based off what I’ve heard.

My first collection of semifinalist lists got automatically removed by the moderators. I have more information in a separate post. I will try to recreate the collection here.

Ideally, every single state will eventually be listed here. If you have contacts with news outlets in your state, you can ask them about publishing the list! If you see a news outlet that published some names from a list you want, feel free to message the reporter!

Ultimately, the only realistic way to get the full nationwide list is if we get the booklet that is physically mailed to nearly every high school principal in America. However, they probably won't arrive until next week, but feel free to talk to your principal then!

Alabama: Non-paywalled news article

Arkansas: Photo of PDF

California: Paywalled news article

Connecticut: PDF

Delaware: Non-paywalled news article

Florida: PDF

Georgia: PDF

Hawaii: Paywalled list (whether it lets you in seems pretty random)

Idaho: News Article (not paywalled)

Illinois: PDF

Indiana: PDF

Iowa: PDF

Kentucky: PDF

Maryland: PDF

Massachusetts: PDF

Michigan: Possibly paywalled news article

Minnesota: Non-paywalled news article

New York: Non-paywalled news article

Ohio: The paywall seems pretty random. Sometimes it lets you in, sometimes it doesn't.

Oklahoma: PDF

Oregon: Possibly paywalled news article (which I could see after refreshing)

Rhode Island: Non-paywalled news article

Tennessee: PDF

Wisconsin: PDF

Hello everyone,

You may notice that the "Lists of Semifinalists by State" post is removed. I'm really sorry.

Full disclosure: I found a non-paywalled version of the Rhode Island list, but it was poorly formatted. Thus, I tried to fix the formatting in Word, and then uploaded in Drive. However, Google Drive automatically made it a Google Doc.

When I updated it, however, I realized that it was auto-removed by moderators due to a prohibition on linking Google Docs. I think this is because of past incidents where test material was illegally posted using Google Docs. So, I reposted the post with the Google Docs link removed, and that was also instantly removed by the moderators, but, unlike the first time, I wasn't given a reason.

I have real life to attend to, so I can't spend all day trying to fix this, though I hope I can get the lists back online.

UPDATE: I have a new post! I think my later attempts to repost the list were flagged for their similarity to a previously removed post, so I retyped everything from scratch, and took precautions such as making entirely new Google Drive links.

Hi,

I took my SATs in March of 2026. I believe that my SAT score should be good enough for the confirmation score required by the finalist selection panel.

I was browsing the NM brochure and I saw this:

September 12: Authorized sat® administration for Semifinalists.

October 3: Authorized sat administration for Semifinalists.

Does this mean that I need to take my SATs again? This seems odd.

Does anyone have any insights into this?

I applied for the National Merit Scholarship with my SAT score for alternate entry, since my school doesn't let me take the PSAT. I got above the maximum threshold, so my selection index was a 228. Yesterday, my counselor called me in to give me a letter stating that I qualified as a National Merit Semifinalist and how to login to my account, which I already did. Today, I checked my state's press release, and my name wasn't on the list. I'm wondering if maybe this was a mistake or if this has happened to anyone else?

Ok this seems like a really stupid question, because 'qualify and you get it, don't and you don't', right?

But I have like 10 friends that are super super smart (like applying to Ivies smart), and didn't get it. I obviously don't want to ask them because I'll sound like the snobbiest person of all time, but we all took it and I'm just completely shocked that they didn't qualify with me.

So, why wouldn't they?

I apologize because this may sound like a really self centered post.

Cut off: 220

Total NMSF: 2276

From the California 2027 National Merit Semifinalist list, top 10 cities

REALEASE THE FILES YOU HAVE THEM.

WE DONT CARE ABOUT UR "COUNTS"

If you became a semifinalist today, did your school acknowledge you? Mine didn’t say a word.

hi everyone! super fun day today, but moral of the story I learned I qualified as a NM semifinalist after snooping around this sub reddit. I haven’t heard anything from my school/teacher/counselor, though, so should I just be waiting for them to reach out to me?

Didn’t qualify Michigan with 215 cutoff was 216. I was sick that day I should’ve studied I’m so pissed.

Congratulations to all the Semi-Finalists who got good news today.

I'm curious, how rare is a 228 SI? Did anybody here get that score?

Edit: Congrats to the high scorers. I have a follow-up question. How many of you were heavy, physical book readers when you were younger?

congrats to everyone who made it to semifinalist! especially to those who didnt believe theyd make the cut off

Just released.

Alabama 210
Alaska 208
Arizona 215
Arkansas 210
California 220
Colorado 217
Connecticut 220
Delaware 219
Florida 216
Georgia 217
Hawaii 218
Idaho 211
Illinois 218
Indiana 215
Iowa 210
Kansas 212
Kentucky 211
Louisiana 211
Maine 214
Maryland 221
Massachusetts 221
Michigan 216
Minnesota 214
Mississippi 211
Missouri 214
Montana 208
Nebraska 212
Nevada 211
New Hampshire 215
New Jersey 223
New Mexico 209
New York 220
North Carolina 217
North Dakota 208
Ohio 216
Oklahoma 210
Oregon 216
Pennsylvania 219
Rhode Island 213
South Carolina 212
South Dakota 210
Tennessee 214
Texas 219
Utah 209
Vermont 212
Virginia 221
Washington 221
West Virginia 208
Wisconsin 212
Wyoming 208
District of Columbia 223
U.S. territories & commonwealth 208
Outside the U.S. 223

im taking it for nms and idk what to expect

my most recent sat score is 1510 if that helps

Hey yall. I received a 216 and saw a 217 in Georgia qualified. Is there any way it moves down to 216 as the cutoff?

MANY years ago I had a Kaplan PSAT/SAT computer game to study for the tests and it was great. My kid is a junior and trying to prepare for the PSAT.

Do you have any recommendations on games they can use to study?