Grats CW! No, National Merit Scholars have to score well on the PSAT which is the National Merit Scholar Qualifying Test (So it's sometimes called the PSATNMSQT, or peesat nimsquat). With a score like that, however, he has a very good chance of meeting the NMSQT requirements of the PSAT, but it varies from state to state.
How do I know all of this, you ask? Pure unadulterated bitterness. I was never informed that the PSAT was also the NMSQT until after I got my results...and was *one point* shy of being a National Merit Scholar. This, I contest, is because I went in thinking "So...it's just the *pre* SAT?" I was told it was to "determine how well you'll do on the SAT" and so I was like "why do I care about that?" I didn't get enough sleep, I didn't do any prep, I didn't study. Nothing.
But, I'm obviously over that...
