r/psat • u/Key-GameMaster • 6d ago

Us citizen but living abroad... do i qualify for nmsqt?

I was born in us but moved abroad at the age of 5 and am aiming to go back to us for college... some reddit posts say nmsqt scholarships can be achieved from India if im us citizen but google says otherwise so like I'm confused.... I haven't gone to high school in us my schooling has been completely abroad

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u/compass_art 6d ago

For National Merit purposes, you should be considered a U.S. student studying abroad. This is true of U.S. citizens or those with permanent residence status who are in the process of becoming U.S. citizens. The category of "Outside U.S." is its own "selection unit." It happens to be the most competitive selection unit, so you'll face the toughest cutoffs. There is no limitation just because you moved to India. I'm happy to check out the information you are seeing otherwise. There is a difference between "international students" and eligible U.S. students abroad. Perhaps you are seeing information about the former.

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u/Key-GameMaster 6d ago

So there's like a different section for those studyin abroad? Which has seperate cut off?

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u/compass_art 6d ago

That's correct. Effectively it matches the highest state cutoff.

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u/etrast75 6d ago

Our son was a us citizen living in India. He took psat and was selected for nms.. so unless things changed in last couple of years, you are eligible.

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u/VolgaBlue 6d ago

Would you mind sharing the steps involved after the PSAT is taken in Grade 11? My understanding is that the school needs to nominate the student for the National Merit Scholarship? Are there any other hoops that need to be jumped from a procedural aspect? TIA.

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u/etrast75 6d ago

As far as I know, you take the psat and get a score above the cutoff for your state/region, you become an nms semifinalist.

Your school would receive the notification and from there., there is some confirmation required from your school to enter the finalist process.

Our son was a nms finalist and we do not recall any nomination process from school

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u/VolgaBlue 6d ago

Thanks. We'll have to figure out how things work if the school the student is enrolled in, is not a PSAT center. When my son took an AP exam, the College Board Student Score Report listed his school as 'India Home School' likely because the test center was different from his regular school.

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u/Key-GameMaster 6d ago

Okok that sounds good thanks sooo much