<p>I took the PSAT last year as a junior and got:</p>
<p>Reading: 61
Math: 66
Writing: 60</p>
<p>I did not prepare at all, but I plan to for perhaps 3 or 4 hours a week for four weeks before I take the next SAT.</p>
<p>So how much should prep bump up my scores?</p>
<p>And are everyone's PSAT scores lower than their SAT scores (I'm thinking this because isn't the PSAT field smarter than your typical SAT field; usually the smartest people from each school take it, leaving out the dumber people. However, on the SAT, those dumb kids who didn't care to take the PSAT all took the SAT to go to college)?</p>
<p>^ Not sure I explained my last question well..</p>
<p>Several posters on CC wrote that the PSAT score times ten (10) equals your equivalent SAT I score. Prep courses can help, especially on the writing section, and, to a lesser extent, on the math section. A prep course will help in a more dramatic fashion if you were unfamiliar with the instructions and type of questions on your first try. Critical reading section reflects many years of reading, thinking and analyzing in a critical reasoning fashion and, therefore, is less likely to improve in a dramatic way after only a few weeks in a review/prep course. The great news is that you scored at least a 600 on each section. Consumer Reports did a study last year on college review courses offered by Princeton Review and Kaplan's. The study concluded that Kaplan's saw more success in increasing scores than did the other review course. Average increases were not that significant and some students reported a decrease in their scores. But different individuals can have drastically different results depending upon many factors inclucing how one learns best, response to a particular instructor, confidence or guilt felt after failing to complete all work assigned by the review course instructor, etc.</p>
<p>I, for one, did over 200 points better on my SAT than on my PSAT. I think that was the general feeling I got from most people I talked to. I think the reason is because there are a lot more questions on the SAT to balance out some mental errors.</p>
<p>So I guess I shouldn't expect my scores to increase dramatically, though it's possible? Anything better than a 2000 is fine by me.</p>
<p>However, it seems that neither of you understood my last question: Is it more difficult to score highly on the PSAT than the SAT due to the fact that the bottom 25% or so of people who take the SAT don't take the PSAT, thus the curve is harder for the SAT? Can someone explain how I'm right or wrong here?</p>
<p>That's what I did. I ended up studying my butt off, but I really think that if i didnt study any after i got that 189 on the PSAT i probably would have gotten like a 1950-2000.</p>
<p>got a 185 on the PSAT two months ago. JUst took a practice SAT without going through the prep book, scored a 2000. The curve on the PSAT is ridiculous.</p>
