Some Points To Consider Regarding PSAT Scholarships

What PSAT Scholarships Can You Avail

PSAT is a standardized test which tests a test-taker’s knowledge in Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing Skills. It is administered to portray the eligibility of test-takers for National merit Scholarships. The scholarships help the students in reducing the high college fees. It enables them to continue college courses, without financial restraints. The NMSQT offers about 50000 scholarships though this test each year. These 50000 test takers are among the commended students to be eligible for scholarships.

How Would You Get the Scholarships?

The scholarships only become available when you cross the cut-off score of 201 in the test. After the fall test, within April high scorers of every state are given the option to choose two colleges or universities. By September, these high scorers are informed, whether they have qualified or have become semi-finalists. Those who are the top scorers become the finalist, while the remaining test takers who cross the cut off score become the semi-finalists for the scholarship programs. Among these top-scorers, there exists a competition, where the winners are mostly selected from the finalists. In such cases, other academic institutions offer their own range of scholarship programs in order to recruit you.

What Are the Available Types of Scholarships?

You should have a high Selection Index Score to qualify the competition for scholarships. There are other factors like the test-taker’s high school curriculum, the grading system followed by the high school, two pairs of test scores, recommendation letter of the high school official, information about the test-taker’s activities and leadership and the written essay of the test-taker.

The types of scholarships are:

  • National Merit Scholarship Corporation:The competition for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) starts from the eleventh grade. Your scores in the eleventh grade act as an elimination and selection procedure for the NMSC, out of the other 1.5 million test-takers of each year. The test-taker who is entering the competition must possess the participation prerequisites and should be eligible for published program entry. To find out whether a student deserves the scholarships, it takes into account the Selection Index Score (the sum of the scores of Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing Skills). It then appoints the groups of students with the highest SI score for the scholarship programs.
  • National Hispanic Recognition Program:This program is awarded to exemplary Hispanic or Latino high school students by the PSAT authorities. The minimum requirements for the scholarship are:
    • The candidate must be one-quarter Hispanic or Latino as defined by the NHRP
    • The candidate must possess the minimum cutoff score in the test, as determined by his or her respective state
    • The candidate has the least Grade Point Average (GPA) requirement

    The NHRP doles out the Hispanic Scholarship to nearly 5000 high-scoring students each year. This figure is chalked out of the nationwide 200,000 and more applicants within the US and US territories.

  • College and University Sponsorship of Merit Scholarship® Awards:Each year, the colleges and universities also publish about 4800 merit scholarships to finalists who have been admitted to their college program or have applied for scholarships in their college courses. Only those candidates who are the finalists and who notify the NMSC within the deadlines, get to enjoy the College and University Sponsorship of Merit Scholarship® Awards. This merit program is valid up to four years of undergrad study and it is liable for stipends ranging from $500 to $2000 an year.

From the above discussion, you get to know about attractive scholarships, which you can achieve in case you are finalists, and among the top scorers. You will be pretty lucky if you get scholarships to finance your higher studies. However, you must keep in mind that if you do not attend the college which funds your education, then your scholarship program gets canceled.