Question:
What percentile is National Merit Scholarship?
Answer:
The National Merit Scholarship Program in the United States is a prestigious academic competition for recognition and scholarships. To qualify as a semifinalist or finalist, a student generally needs to score in the top 1% of PSAT/NMSQT test-takers in their state. This usually places them around the 99th percentile or higher.
The exact qualifying scores vary by state and year, as they are determined by the top 1% of scores within each state, not on a national level. Therefore, the specific percentile may slightly vary depending on the state and the competition in a given year, but it typically corresponds to the 99th percentile.