Each year, as the air begins to cool, the trees don their autumnal raiment, and stores start to advertise Christmas decorations way too early, it can really only mean one thing: it’s PSAT season.
The Preliminary SAT is administered each fall nationwide to students in grades 10-11, with some students sitting for a modified version of the test in grades 8-9 as well. This exam serves several purposes.
First and foremost, as the name suggests, it mirrors the structure and much of the content of the SAT and thus provides students with exposure to and practice with the questions they’ll see on that test. It is also an ingenious way for College Board to smuggle their testing suite into schools, thereby convincing students to see the SAT as the default college admissions test, but that’s a topic for another time.
Arguably the biggest benefit of taking the PSAT, though, is that it can qualify you for the National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSP). With most students’ scores from the 2026 iteration of the test now released, we wanted to provide an overview of the NMSP: how PSAT scores are used to determine qualification, what the application process entails, and what awaits students who are chosen to receive a scholarship. Let’s dive in.
Eligibility Requirements
Not everybody is eligible to receive a National Merit Scholarship. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) restricts consideration to students who meet the following initial criteria:
“To participate in the… competition, a student must:
1. be enrolled as a high school student (traditional or home-schooled), progressing normally toward graduation or completion of high school, and planning to enroll full-time in college no later than the fall following completion of high school;
2. take the PSAT/NMSQT in the specified year of the high school program and no later than the third year in grades 9 through 12, regardless of grade classification or educational pattern; and
3. attend high school in the United States, District of Columbia, or U.S. commonwealths and territories; or meet the citizenship requirements for students attending high school outside the United States.”
Basically, the NMS is available only to domestic students and international students who are American citizens or in the process of becoming citizens. Additionally, in order to begin the qualification process, a student must take the PSAT/NMSQT—a frankly wild acronym that can be most easily understood as “the version of the PSAT that students take in 11th grade.” Once an eligible student has taken the test, they are automatically entered into the competition, and they begin the next phase.
Qualification for Semifinalist Status
After an eligible student takes the PSAT/NMSQT, their National Merit Selection Index (SI) score is calculated. This is done using a fairly simple formula:
Selection Index = (2 × Reading & Writing score + Math score) ÷ 10
So if Steven earned a 1410 on the PSAT, with an R&W score of 690 and a Math score of 720, his Selection Index score would be:
[2 × 690 + 720] ÷ 10 = 210
Each year, the roughly 50,000 eligible students who earn the highest Selection Index scores nationwide on that year’s administration of the PSAT/NMSQT are selected to be considered for an NMS. Of those students, approximately one-third (~16,000) are then chosen as Semifinalists.
This designation is awarded to the highest-scoring testers from each of the 50 states, with each state’s allotment of Semifinalists determined by its percentage of the national total of high school seniors in that graduating class. So if a state graduates 3% of the nation’s high school seniors, for example, it would be awarded approximately 480 (3% of 16,000) Semifinalist slots.
The attentive reader might notice a couple of interesting quirks inherent to this process:
A student’s R&W result is weighted twice as heavily as Math when calculating their SI score. This means that testers who are stronger in R&W will have an edge over their peers who are stronger in Math when it comes to NMS consideration.
Consider two hypothetical students who earned the same composite score on the PSAT but had different section splits:
| Student | Composite | Reading & Writing | Math | Selection Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student 1 | 1440 | 740 | 700 | 218 |
| Student 2 | 1440 | 690 | 750 | 213 |
Though both students would earn very strong SI scores, Student 1 would have the edge in NMS consideration, particularly in more competitive states. This leads us nicely to the second point…
Because every state is guaranteed some number of Semifinalists, regardless of how its students’ PSAT scores compare to those of other states, the SI score threshold a student must meet to progress to the Semifinalist stage can and does vary depending on location.
If a state has a large number of graduating seniors, its number of Semifinalist slots will be larger, but so will competition for those slots. In states that have a larger proportion of high-performing students relative to overall student population, the competition can be especially brutal.
New Jersey and Washington, DC, for instance, both had an SI threshold of 223 for NMS Semifinalist status in 2025. For context, the highest SI score a student can receive (by getting a perfect 1520 on the PSAT) is 228. To see a full state-by-state breakdown of last year’s SI requirements, check out NMS’s annual guide.
Finalist Selection
In August of the subsequent year, participating schools are notified of the students who have achieved Semifinalist status. All of these students have the opportunity to qualify for Finalist standing and enter the final stage of competing for an NMS.
Students who are interested in becoming Finalists are required to complete several additional steps, including…
Obtaining an endorsement and recommendation letter from their principal
Completing an online application, which requires writing a short essay
Taking the SAT or ACT in order to demonstrate the ability to replicate their PSAT scores
Displaying a record of high academic performance in grades 9-12
All students who complete these steps will progress to the Finalist stage; according to the NMSC, approximately 95% of Semifinalists go on to become Finalists.
Scholarship Awards
At long last, some 6,700 students from the pool of Finalists will be awarded an actual National Merit Scholarship. These take several forms:
National Merit $2500 Scholarships are the version that most people associate with the competition. A total of 2,500 of these are awarded each year, and the designated scholars receive a one-time monetary award of $2,500.
College-sponsored Merit Scholarship Awards are awarded to Finalists by roughly 140 four-year institutions across the US. These 3,500 scholarships can only be used at the school in question, and they are offered to Finalists who 1) did not receive a $2500 Scholarship and 2) have indicated that the school offering the scholarship is their first choice to attend. College-sponsored Scholarships come with a monetary award of $500 to $2,000 per year, and they must be renewed by the recipient each year.
Additional college-specific scholarships may also be available to National Merit students, as some schools fund larger scholarships or financial packages. These offers vary by college and may already include the formal National Merit stipend.
Check the admissions pages of schools on your list for more details about any supplemental monetary awards, such as minimum NM recognition level and other requirements, application deadlines, and renewal conditions.
Corporate-sponsored Scholarships are underwritten by corporations, foundations, and professional associations that partner with the NMS. These roughly 700 scholarships go to students who meet specific criteria set by the partner, which can range from ‘children of employees’ to ‘pursuing a specific major or career’. The accompanying monetary award can take the form of a one-time payment of $2,500 to $10,000 or a yearly stipend of $1,000 to $10,000.
Commended Students
It’s also worth noting that there are other scholarships for which students may be eligible even if they miss out on being Semifinalists or Finalists. Each year, roughly 34,000 of the 50,000 highest-scoring students nationwide will not qualify as Semifinalists; however, they will receive a letter certifying their status as Commended Students.
In addition to said (no doubt very flattering) letter, Commended Students are also eligible to receive one of approximately 620 Special Scholarships that are offered to non-Finalists by NMS’s corporate partners. Though these awards don’t come with the National Merit title, they can still provide a very nice financial boost to offset the often absurd cost of a college education.
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The monetary reward associated with National Merit scholarships makes them very appealing to many families; however, as you may have gathered from the rather arduous process outlined above, they are not especially easy to obtain.
As such, it’s typically not a great idea for students to invest significant time into preparing for the PSAT unless they think they have a realistic shot at obtaining a very high score. If test-taking isn’t your strongest skill, there are many other scholarships that don’t use PSAT scores as an eligibility requirement!
If you are striving to give yourself a shot at attaining a National Merit Scholarship, though—or if you just have questions about this whole confusing, intimidating process—we’re here to help.