It’s hard for me to tell what is going on.
It looks like they have different qualifications depending on what state you are in.
Are these actual average scores? At the 10th percentile? Why would the criteria be different for different states?
A lot of historically bad education states have high numbers.
These numbers need better explanation.
Apparently it is their system to spread them around the country rather than to concentrate in certain States.
from website:
Juniors need a high selectivity index score in the 99 percentile range. Not
all students in the 99 percentile range will be National Merit Semifinalists.
Each state has a different cut off for the selection of National Merit
Semifinalists.
The score is obtained from the total of three sections on the PSAT: the
critical reading, math and writing scores. The highest score would be 240
(80+80+80=240) since each section of the PSAT ranges from 20 to 80
points.