<p>This month, with many high school juniors receiving their first college testing results, “The Dean” has been flooded with queries that ask, “How good is a PSAT Selection Index of ______”? And the numbers have been all over the map: 220, 180, 130, 103 and 85. A variation on that theme was, [...]</p>
<p>My son’s scores are : 76 critical reading, 78 math, 80 writing. 234. We are in NY. Is there a way to know his exact percentile – i.e. 99.2 or whatever?</p>
<p>hennes, you have to roll your own number. Track down the standard deviation, and use a normal distribution table. Make your son do it, to prove he deserves his math score ;-)</p>
<p>For the SD, an alternative approach is to find the SAT scores that match the 50th and 84th percentiles. The scores difference is the SD. If you are unfamiliar with Gaussian (normal) distributions, read the Wikipedia monograph for a painless review that will be adequate for your purposes.</p>
<p>After you find the number you are looking for, remind yourself that combined SAT scores can easily vary 50 - 100 points between sittings by chance, and so not to imbue the result with any magical (or absolutist) meaning.</p>
<p>my scores improved</p>
<p>hennes: 234 is what I got on my PSAT last year. With almost no additional studying, I got a 2400 on the real thing. A 234 is definitely on target.</p>
<p>Does any one know the cut off score for October 2009 PSAT in Texas. My daighter got 222… Not sure if it is good enough to be National merit scholarship semifinalist.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063359519-post1169.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063359519-post1169.html</a></p>
<p>As you can see from the link, 222 was high enough to qualify in any state last year. Texas was 216 for 2008 testers. Cut-off scores for 2009 testers won’t be known until next September, but they almost always are within a 2-3 point range every year.</p>
<p>thanks Descartesz. That was helpful</p>
<p>I got 62 reading, 80 mathematics, 55 reading. do u know if a 197 is at least good enough for National Hispanic Scholar?</p>
<p>yes it is ^^^</p>
<p>Could someone please explain to me how the whole NMS part of the PSAT score works? My D has qualified for the NMS realm, with a score high enough coming from a New England prep school. What are the next steps? How are the future cutoffs determined? Thanks!!</p>
<p>Please ignore my post above - got the answers I needed - thanks!</p>
<p>PSAT scores dont matter at all. Colleges just ask for SAT scores not PSAT scores.</p>
<p>PSAT matters for national merit.</p>
<p>PSAT does matter. It is not reported to colleges, but you can self report. National Merit Scholar is a great distinction!</p>
<p>I got a 189. Is that good enough for any recognition? I’m in Virginia.</p>
<p>So ive heard that the NMSC wants you to have a consistently good academic performance if you want to get a national merit scholarship></p>
<p>The problem w/ me is, I did bad in the first semester of my freshman year(3.2GPA, which is very embarassingly bad) However i improved in the 2nd semester(3.625) in the first semester of my sophmore year right now i acheived a 3.857 weighted GPA, and I am sure i can get a unweighted 4.0 next semester and all the semesters after that.</p>
<p>WIll i simply not be considered by the NMSC because i did bad in my first semester of my freshman year even though i clearly improved later on, or will they take me into consideration because i showed improvement?</p>
<p>@hennes - Not to refute what christiansoldier has said (and I realize this comes almost four months later), but a high 230+ PSAT score does not guarantee an easy time on the SAT. I have taken the PSAT twice (sophomore and junior years) with a 239 “superscore” (236 junior year), but my SAT superscore is only 2370, and that is with a great deal of preparation <em>after</em> the PSAT.</p>