National Merit Scholarship: What is it & How to Apply 2024

If you’ve heard of the PSAT, thought about the PSAT, or taken the PSAT, chances are you’ve also heard of the National Merit Scholarship. Maybe you thought, “cool … a scholarship!” Or, if you’re like most of us, your first reaction might have been, “What is a National Merit Scholarship? I thought I just had to worry about the PSAT!”

The PSAT and the National Merit Scholarship go hand-in-hand, but the great news is the National Merit Scholarship is not anything you need to “worry” about. Like all scholarships, it means potential financial help for college, but if you take the PSAT, you’ve already taken the first steps for scholarship eligibility.

The other great news is we know a lot about the National Merit Scholarships, so without further ado, let’s just jump in!

 
 

What is the national merit scholarship?

Let’s start with the basics: The National Merit Scholarship is a scholarship program available to U.S. high school students (that’s the “national” part), including students who are in high school in the U.S., the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, or who are U.S. citizens going to high school abroad. Home-school students are also eligible. There are four types of National Merit Scholarships (more on these below):

  • National Merit $2500 Scholarships

  • National Merit Special Scholarships

  • Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards

  • College-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards.

Students become eligible for the scholarship by illustrating high academic achievement (that’s the merit part).

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation sponsors this scholarship every year to recognize students who earn exceptional scores on their PSATs (that’s the hand-in-hand part we mentioned earlier). Scholarships might come from The National Scholarship Corporation itself, from other organizations and corporations, or from some colleges and universities.

What is a national merit scholar?

“National Merit Scholar” sounds super impressive, right? And it is! 

Earning a high score on the PSAT is just the first step. National Merit Scholars are students who complete all the steps in the rigorous application process—after the PSAT, they become Commended Students, Semifinalists, Finalists, and THEN Scholars (more on these steps in a bit).

Becoming a National Merit Scholar is the end goal for students who go through this process, and it means they’ve shown themselves to be academically exceptional.

But before you start to get stressed out about this, remember that you are not required to pursue the National Merit Scholarship. While earning a high score on the PSAT can set you on this path, applying for any scholarship is a decision you (and your family) need to make based on what feels right for your circumstances. 

Do you really need the financial help? If you qualify for the scholarship, then go for it!

Are you already so stressed out thinking about the college application process that one more thing makes you want to scream? Maybe that determines whether or not pursuing a National Merit Scholarship is a wise use of your mental energy.

How do you qualify for a national merit scholarship?

The first step in qualifying for a National Merit Scholarship is to take the PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary Student Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test). This is different from the PSAT 10, so just double-check before you register since the PSAT/NMSQT is the only PSAT test that will qualify you for the National Merit Scholarship.

In addition to taking the PSAT/NMSQT (which most students take in 11th grade), there are a few more specific requirements:

  • Students have to take the test before 12th grade (but again, most take it in 11th grade)

  • Students have to be enrolled in high school full-time

  • Students have to be in good academic standing (this is a little vague, but basically, this means you’re making clear progress toward fulfilling graduation requirements, you’re not on academic warning or probation, and your grades reflect strong academic performance)

  • Students intend to go to college the fall semester after they graduate (so, no gap year)

  • Students have to earn a PSAT/NMSQT score in the top 1% of their state (yep, you heard us correctly. Top. One. Percent). This means the required minimum score will differ depending on where you live, but the average score for all states hovers around 218

PSAT Selection Index

When we talk about PSAT/NMSQT scores in relation to National Merit Scholarships, these actually refer to a score called the Selection Index that ranges from 48-228. This score figures the weight of your component scores by doubling the sum of your Reading, Writing and Language, and Math test scores.

So let’s say you earned a Reading score of 33, a Writing and Language score of 33, and a Math score of 35. Add these together and then multiply by 2 to get your Index score.

33+33+35=101

101 x 2=202

202 is your Index score!

Since qualifying scores for the PSAT/NMSQT differ year-to-year based on the scores of all students taking the test in a particular year, it’s a little hard to tell you the exact Index score to aim for. But in general, a score of 207 would position you well to qualify as a Commended student or a Semifinalist.

Types of national merit scholarships

Wait, there are different types of National Merit Scholarships?! Indeed, there are! We know this is a lot of information, but it’s important for you to know about all the ways you might get some extra cash to help pay for college. Not to worry … we’ll walk you through this.

There are 4 types of National Merit Scholarships that total 8,500 yearly scholarships:

  • National Merit $2,500 Scholarships: one-time scholarships awarded by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation to exceptional students who meet all eligibility requirements

  • National Merit Special Scholarships: one-time OR extendable scholarships awarded by private corporations and businesses to exceptional students who don’t become finalists for the $2,500 Scholarship

  • Corporate-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships: also one-time or extendable scholarships awarded by private corporations and businesses; typically reserved for employees’ kids (put your parents to work so they can find out if they work somewhere that awards these scholarships!)

  • College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships: multi-year/renewable scholarships awarded by colleges and universities to students who will attend their school

How do you become a national merit semifinalist?

Here are the basic steps to becoming a national merit semifinalist:

  1. Take the PSAT/NMSQT

  2. Earn a score in the top 1% of your state

  3. The top 50,000 students who take the PSAT/NMSQT get named either Commended Students or Semifinalists (16,000 students out of that 50,000 become Semifinalists)

Earning a score in the top 1% of your state is obviously NOT a piece of cake (at least not any cake we’d want to try).

Becoming a Semifinalist happens at the state level (while Commended students are determined at the national level), so one factor that determines whether or not you become a Semifinalist is the total number of high school students in your state (which you obviously have no control over). The National Merit Scholarship Corporation figures out an approximate number of Semifinalists per state and a selection committee chooses that number of students to move to the Semifinalist stage.

How do you apply for a national merit scholarship?

Once you take the PSAT/NMSQT, you’ve already completed the first step (yay)!

We wish we could say you’re done-and-done at that point, but there are still quite a few steps. Let’s check these out …

October:

You take the PSAT/NMSQT

May (of the following year):

34,000 students are selected as Commended students and 16,000 students are selected as Semifinalists. Even though Commended students don’t become Semifinalists, they still receive a commendation letter, so all is not lost!

September (with an October deadline):

Here is where the work starts for Semifinalists. In addition to submitting high school transcripts and a letter of recommendation (probably from the school principal or a school dean), Semifinalists must also submit an essay that is typically about a significant personal experience or challenge (this is really good practice for writing your college essay).

*Semifinalists must also submit SAT scores (so the PSAT just gets you in the door)

What we hope these steps show is it takes more than just a high PSAT score to receive a National Merit Scholarship. The selection committee wants to make sure you’re a very strong student all-around (and not JUST a good test-taker).

February (of senior year):

Approximately 15,000 Finalists are named. The schools these students attend get this information (and hopefully celebrate proudly) and each Finalist receives a Certificate of Merit

March-May:

This is when National Merit Scholarship recipients are finally named (we know, it’s a long, long process)!

Students and their schools are notified they’ve earned a National Merit Scholarship, and the happy dances can begin!

How many students get a national merit scholarship?

Here’s how the numbers break down:

  • Approximately 1.5 million high school students take the PSAT.

  • 34,000 are named Commended students.

  • 16,000 become Semifinalists.

  • 15,000 become Finalists.

  • 8,500 students actually receive National Merit Scholarships.

Let’s be honest … these numbers are pretty daunting. But getting a National Merit Scholarship is not impossible!

The National Merit Scholarship requirements are no joke, and this process is not meant to be easy. But 8,500 students successfully navigate this process every year, so it can be done.

Once you pass those first few hurdles of taking the PSAT/NSMQT, earning a high enough score to qualify, and deciding whether or not to continue with the application process, commit yourself to doing the work. There is a lot to gain, and not much to lose (except time, of course, and we know this is a precious commodity).

SOMEONE has to be part of that 8,500, right? 

Special thanks to Jessica B. for writing this blog post.

Jessica has a Ph.D in English from the University of Southern California and teaches English at a Los Angeles-area independent school, where she has also been English department chair and a class dean.  Sandra Cisneros is her hero, and she loves books, her awesomely-sarcastic family, the beach, and more books. Oh, and her sweet pitbull/lab mix named Ruby. 

Top values: Curiosity, equity, wonder