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National Merit · the class of 2027 · seniors applying for Fall 2027

National Merit Semifinalist cutoffs by state

There is no national qualifying score. NMSC hands each state a share of the roughly 17,000 Semifinalist places, then works down from a perfect 228 Selection Index until that share is filled — so the qualifying score is a different number in every state, and for the class of 2026 it ran from 210 in the lowest state to 225 in the highest. NMSC does not publish those numbers. The table below carries the last three classes as they were confirmed after the fact, and the class of 2027 figures as they are being reported now, with the compiler behind each one named in the row.

Class of 2027 Semifinalists: not announced yet

Expected September 9, 2026

Compass reports the National Merit press release goes out September 9, and that the Semifinalist lists reach high schools at the end of August under an embargo schools are asked to hold until mid-September.

One number is already settled: the national Commended level for the class of 2027 is 208, down from 210 for the class of 2026. That is a single figure for the whole country and it is the floor every state cutoff clears — no state's Semifinalist score can fall below it.

State by state, 26 of the 50 states and DC have a class of 2027 figure reported so far, and 18 of those are backed by both compilers this page reads. The other 25 show an estimated range and nothing else, because nothing else is known yet.

Semifinalist cutoffs, state by state

Selection Index, not total PSAT score. Every figure is a qualifying score for that state alone: a student in one state can miss with a number that would have qualified across the border. The class of 2027 column shows what is reported so far and says what kind of claim each figure is; the estimated range beside it is a projection for the states nobody has reported yet.

State Class of 2027 so far Estimated range Class of 2026Class of 2025Class of 2024 Source
Alabama about 250 Semifinalists a year 210 Confirmed 210–215 214 212 210 Compass, McElroy
Alaska about 35 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 210–216 215 McElroy says 214 214 209 Compass, McElroy
Arizona about 398 Semifinalists a year 215 or lower Highest score known to qualify 215–220 218 McElroy says 217 217 216 Compass, McElroy
Arkansas about 143 Semifinalists a year 212 or lower Highest score known to qualify 210–215 215 McElroy says 212 213 210 Compass, McElroy
California about 2,115 Semifinalists a year 220 Confirmed 220–223 224 221 221 Compass, McElroy
Colorado about 286 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 216–220 219 218 216 Compass
Connecticut about 175 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 220–222 223 221 221 Compass
Delaware about 44 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 218–221 220 219 219 Compass
District of Columbia about 36 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 222–224 225 223 223 Compass
Florida about 999 Semifinalists a year 216 Confirmed 216–219 219 217 216 Compass, McElroy
Georgia about 602 Semifinalists a year 218 or lower Highest score known to qualify 217–220 220 218 217 Compass, McElroy
Hawaii about 62 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 215–219 219 217 217 Compass
Idaho about 96 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 211–216 215 213 211 Compass
Illinois about 704 Semifinalists a year 218 or lower Highest score known to qualify 218–222 222 220 219 Compass, McElroy
Indiana about 313 Semifinalists a year 212 to 215 Narrowed to a range 214–219 218 217 216 Compass
Iowa about 145 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 211–216 214 212 210 Compass
Kansas about 144 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 213–218 216 215 214 Compass
Kentucky about 201 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 211–217 214 213 211 Compass
Louisiana about 222 Semifinalists a year 211 or lower Highest score known to qualify 212–217 216 214 214 Compass, McElroy
Maine about 55 Semifinalists a year 214 or lower Highest score known to qualify 212–217 217 214 213 Compass, McElroy
Maryland about 308 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 220–224 224 222 221 Compass
Massachusetts about 318 Semifinalists a year 224 or lower Highest score known to qualify 221–224 225 223 222 Compass
Michigan about 485 Semifinalists a year 216 or lower Highest score known to qualify 216–220 220 218 217 Compass, McElroy
Minnesota about 279 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 216–220 219 217 216 Compass
Mississippi about 155 Semifinalists a year 211 Confirmed 210–214 213 212 209 Compass, McElroy
Missouri about 289 Semifinalists a year 215 or lower Highest score known to qualify 213–218 217 215 214 Compass, McElroy
Montana about 47 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 208–213 213 209 209 Compass
Nebraska about 105 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 210–215 214 211 210 Compass
Nevada about 168 Semifinalists a year 214 or lower Highest score known to qualify 211–216 214 214 211 Compass, McElroy
New Hampshire about 60 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 214–219 219 217 215 Compass
New Jersey about 451 Semifinalists a year 224 or lower Highest score known to qualify 222–224 225 223 223 Compass
New Mexico about 104 Semifinalists a year 209 or lower Highest score known to qualify 209–214 210 211 207 Compass
New York about 1,012 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 219–223 223 220 220 Compass
North Carolina about 510 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 216–220 220 218 217 Compass
North Dakota about 30 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 208–212 210 210 207 Compass
Ohio about 538 Semifinalists a year 218 or lower Highest score known to qualify 215–219 219 217 216 Compass, McElroy
Oklahoma about 204 Semifinalists a year 210 Confirmed 210–214 212 211 208 Compass, McElroy
Oregon about 188 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 215–220 219 216 216 Compass
Pennsylvania about 596 Semifinalists a year 219 to 222 Narrowed to a range 217–221 221 219 219 Compass
Rhode Island about 47 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 214–219 219 217 215 Compass
South Carolina about 236 Semifinalists a year 222 or lower Highest score known to qualify 210–216 215 214 209 Compass
South Dakota about 42 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 208–212 211 McElroy says 208 208 209 Compass, McElroy
Tennessee about 319 Semifinalists a year 214 Confirmed 215–219 219 217 217 Compass, McElroy
Texas about 1,623 Semifinalists a year 219 Confirmed 218–222 222 219 219 Compass, McElroy
Utah about 196 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 210–215 213 211 209 Compass
Vermont about 28 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 211–216 216 215 212 Compass
Virginia about 437 Semifinalists a year 219 to 222 Narrowed to a range 220–224 224 222 219 Compass
Washington about 348 Semifinalists a year 222 or lower Highest score known to qualify 220–224 224 222 220 Compass, McElroy
West Virginia about 64 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 208–211 210 209 207 Compass
Wisconsin about 292 Semifinalists a year 211 to 212 Narrowed to a range 213–217 215 214 213 Compass
Wyoming about 24 Semifinalists a year No reports yet 208–212 210 209 207 Compass

What each class of 2027 figure claims

Confirmed
Reports on both sides of the line: somebody at this Selection Index qualified and somebody a point below it did not.
Narrowed to a range
The reports so far put the qualifying score somewhere in this range and no closer.
Highest score known to qualify
A student at this Selection Index qualified, so the qualifying score is this or lower. It is a ceiling, not the answer.
No reports yet
Nobody has reported a qualifying score in that state yet. The estimated range beside it is a projection, not a report, and no figure sits in the class of 2027 column at all.

A row whose Source column names two compilers is one where both published the same figure. Where one publishes a different number for a class that is already settled, the disagreement is printed in the cell rather than quietly resolved — this site does not pick between two sources that contradict each other.

The selection units that are not states

NMSC also sets scores outside the fifty states and DC. They follow rules rather than their own competitions, which is why they sit apart from the table above.

Selection unit Class of 2027 estimate Class of 2026Class of 2025Class of 2024
U.S. territories and possessions Set at the national Commended level every year. 208–208 210208207
U.S. students studying outside the country Set at the highest state cutoff, the same way the District of Columbia is. 222–224 225223223

Where a state's number comes from

The Selection Index is on the PSAT/NMSQT score report, and it is not the total score. Double the Reading and Writing section score, add the Math section score, divide by ten. Reading and Writing counts twice, so two students with an identical total can sit several points apart on the Index — a 228 needs the top score in both sections.

NMSC allocates its Semifinalist places to states by the size of their graduating classes, so every state is represented and every state has its own standard. It then works down the Index until the allocation is as close to filled as it can get, which is why a cutoff can move a point in either direction on almost no change in how students did. About 1.4 million students enter each year, roughly 57,000 are recognized in some form, about 17,000 of them as Semifinalists and the remaining 40,000 as Commended Students.

The allocation is why the state column matters as much as the score does. A state handed 24 places a year and a state handed 2,115 are running different competitions on the same test.

Why this is not simply looked up

NMSC does not publish state qualifying scores ahead of the announcement, and it does not notify students directly. The Semifinalist lists go to high schools by post at the end of August, under a request that schools hold the news publicly until the announcement — so through the whole eleven months between the October PSAT and that week, there is no official number to read anywhere.

What fills the gap is a small group of compilers who collect reports from the students and schools that were told, and publish what they can stand behind. This page reads Compass Education Group and McElroy Tutoring, names which of them is behind every figure, and says plainly when a number is a ceiling rather than an answer. The compilers were last read on August 30, 2026.

What comes after the letter

Semifinalist standing arrives in September, at the front of a senior year whose other dates all land months later. Finalist standing and the scholarship offers follow through the winter and spring — but for most applicants the next dates that matter are their own: when each application is due, and when each college answers.

Every college on this site carries its own rounds for Fall 2027 — application deadlines where the college publishes them, and the date decisions come out. The season calendar lays those out month by month, and Ivy Day is the evening at the end of March when the last of them land.

Dates only: no odds, no chances, no admissions statistics. A cutoff here is a qualifying score that has been reported, never a promise about any one student.

Sources