79 percentile on PSAT- am i screwed 4 life?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>i just found out that i got a 168 on the PSAT-sophomore yr. compared to others, this is pretty good but for colleges i really want to go to not so good. i looked on collegeboard, and the colleges that are in my range SAT-wise are no-name, state-colleges. I really want to go to ivies.
What can i do to improve?</p>

<p>I have a 3.8 uw/4.64 w, and i m in the top 5. plus i m black so....(does this help?)</p>

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2

<p>That's not bad, you're only a sophomore anyway. My score went up over 400 points from the time I first took it as a freshman (end of freshman year) and when I took it as a senior/.</p>

3

<p>Bro, colleges never see these if you don't want them too...</p>

4

<p>I think you're missing the point of the PSAT. It's a practice SAT, so doing bad means that you're supposed to study hard for the real one. Here's what you should do:</p>

<p>Get lots of prep books. I recommend: the official SAT study guide, Cracking the SAT, Barron's How to Prepare for the SAT (23rd edition), Kaplan Comprehensive Program, Barron's 2400, Kaplan 2400, Kaplan writing workbook, Kaplan math workbook, Barron's critical reading workbook, 11 Practice Tests for the SAT/PSAT by Princeton Review.</p>

<p>If you study a few (or all, if you're ambitious) of those really hard, you'll get a high score.</p>

5

<p>As a sophomore, nothing short of a felony will screw you for life.</p>

6

<p>No, you are not screwed for life because colleges don't see those scores. And your PSAT score junior year will likely improve. Mine went up 270 points. </p>

<p>What you can do to better your score is to take lots and lots of practice tests. I wholeheartedly agree when people say that the SAT only tests your knowledge of how to take it. Sure, you have to know the basics of math and reading comp, but otherwise, being familiar with the test is more important than knowing the definitions to most common SAT vocab words. And the best way to be familiar with the test is to take a ton of practice tests.</p>

7

<p>I got a 172 on my PSAT's sophomore year, and a year later a 2150 on my SAT. I have roughly the same uw gpa/rank as you, and I'm applying to 2 ivies. If I can do it, so can you. </p>

<p>And I don't have the URM status that you have.</p>

8

<p>just to let you know... i took the psat soph year score in the 78th percentile, took it junior year did nothing else special and scored in the 92nd percentile, and then when i actually took the sat i scored in the 97th percentile... dude, u will learn much more math and grammer thruogh school and as you mature and read in english class that the score will take care of itself</p>

9

<p>my SAT was 300 points higher than my PSAT</p>

10

<p>don't sweat it, it will improve</p>

11

<p>mine went 198-202-207. and i thought i did great on it this year. so don't necessarily count on it to skyrocket. the psat is a weird test.</p>

12

<p>My daughters score went up 25 points her Junior year.
Look into National Achievement Scholarships and relax a little.</p>

13

<p>I did vastly better on the SAT than on the PSAT, and I didn't even prep.</p>

<p>So don't sweat it.</p>

14

<p>Yea, don't worry about it. I'm a sophomore too, and I got in the 81st percentile (171). Most of the kids at my school scored between 130-160, some of the smarter kids got int the 170s and 180s, and a very small amount got 210+. </p>

<p>We still have 2 years.</p>