<p>
[quote]
Of course, taking it cold and getting NMF is > both options.
[/quote]
Yep, that's what we should all try to do. lolol</p>
<p>I'm bumping this because I just took a "practice" PSAT at my school a couple days ago. I'm a sophomore so Idk why I have to take it, but in my school it's pretty much "mandatory" for "preparation". </p>
<p>I don't want to create a new thread so meh, post your "PSAT" experiences here.</p>
<p>It was boring, really. 2 hours of nonsense was what it was. I think I just did whatever. I almost fell asleep three times. A 68, 64, and 78 is what I got, so a D+, D, and a C+. I'm not worried. </p>
<p>The "English" sections were too long so I kinda breezed it, especially the readings, so I know I failed but math I actually did pretty much put some effort into but Idk how I got so much wrong to get a C+, but w/e...</p>
<p>Although I'm confused why no one in my school got above a 80, even the smart ones that actually tried, but meh, guess my school isn't all that smart or something happened.</p>
<p>Sorry for the thread hijack but I just want to confirm; if you take the PSAT in Freshman or Sophomore year you can't try and get a Merit Scholarship?</p>
<p>Hahahah Invoyable, I like how you rated those as D+, D, and C+, when they're all really good scores... and 80 is the max...</p>
<p>That's a 210 total, which is already past the cutoff for lots of states! (See <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061009151-post571.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061009151-post571.html</a>) I know you're in Cali, but most people's scores improve from sophomore to junior year (AND this was just a practice, not even an official test)... so I think you're in really good shape!</p>
<p>@ Niamh: Yeah, only juniors are eligible.</p>
<p>Thank-you, Poseur. Are you allowed to take in 9th or 10th grade and re-take it in 11th or would this be "manipulating the system"?</p>
<p>I'm going to be taking the PSAT next month as a sophomore, should I brother studying for it? I've taken a SAT practice test from collegeboard once and reviewed all my answers, so I get the whole test format.</p>
<p>Oh what, the max is 80 points? Are you serious?</p>
<p>What kind of TEST has a maximum point of 80? That's so random, haha, I didn't even expect that.</p>
<p>Oh well; I'm happy about my math (I tried for this one, made a careless mistake), and writing I kinda tried, and CR I didn't even try that much. It isn't a big deal I guess. It was mandatory to.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, though...I can't believe the max is 80. Such a random number.</p>
<p>
Not only are you allowed to do that, but you are encouraged to! Many schools (like mine) have a mandatory PSAT in 10th grade. If yours doesn't, I guess you'll have to do some research to find out where the test is offered during your 9th or 10th grade year... and shell out $13 to sign up. Even though you aren't eligible for scholarships, most schools strongly recommend that you take the PSAT earlier than your junior year so that you can gauge your strengths and weaknesses and work on getting the highest score possible for the one that counts.</p>
<p>Hahaha Invoyable, you're crazy. Your 210 translates to a projected 2100 on the actual SAT... although everyone I know has gotten a higher SAT score than their PSAT projects (even their junior year one, which is generally much higher than their sophomore year one), probably due to the PSAT's crazy curve... soooo yeah, you'll probably do even better. :] Especially if you actually try, lol.</p>
<p>I've never taken the SAT's before and have no idea how it works. This was my "first" standarized test-type or w/e, never took a test like this in my life. Was quite weird. Not that I care about this stuff.</p>
<p>And you're soo kind and helpful, Poseur...I guess it's a deviation from the standard kitten-sessions. ;)</p>
<p>Yeah, yeah, keep not caring yet performing exceptionally. You're cute. :]</p>
<p>Lawl, the kittens are a lie. -___-</p>
<p>.....uh, lol? What possible benefits that are so important are there for me to care about a test? Hogwash ftw...</p>
<p>No, I'm not saying they ARE important (although scholarships are nice) -- I'm just saying, it's cool that you don't give a crap and still do really well, lol. And to continue to do so, if that's what floats your boat. XD</p>
<p>Lolololol Invoyable, I thought you were kidding when you typed your thread-hijacking post. It's out of 80 because it's like the SAT, which you [hopefully?] know that each section is out of 800.. lol.</p>
<p>DEFINITELY STUDY!!! why wouldn't you? **** natural ability. If you are able to increase your score from say, a 170 to 210 in a month, THAT is your natural ability.</p>
<p>That simply shows that you have a natural ability to cram senseless memorization into your head. NOT studying and still getting the same score as somebody who actually tried, now that shows that you have natural intelligence.</p>
<p>Nah. Sorry to all those that were confused. I seriously did not know; I'm ignorant about all these tests and quizzes and processes and policies...</p>
<p>And to the later comment, the natural intelligence part may also be skewed because even if you're not studying in particular for the PSAT/SAT, if you consistently read and do math problems then that means you're studying more. </p>
<p>So that doesn't necessarily mean natural intelligence either.</p>
<p>For example, person A takes SAT, studies hard, gets 2100. Person B doesn't study at all for the SAT's, but in actuality he takes in more information due to the large amount of books he reads/ other subtle areas.</p>
<p>Doesn't really tell a thing about who's naturally smarter, really. This whole topic is so ambiguous and hilarious to begin with.</p>
<p>I agree with that. The line between "natural ability" and "how much you've learned" is so blurry! And it's impossible to judge whether someone is more adept at picking up concepts than someone else, or if he or she has just been exposed to more. </p>
<p>However, there is a pretty clear difference between someone who goes into the SAT without prep and someone who spends hours learning THE TEST ITSELF -- what kind of questions the SAT will ask and how to approach them, blindly memorizing formulas for "problem type x" or "problem type y." There are the people who get to know the test so well that they know all of the questions the SAT will ever throw at them and how to approach them. There's a girl on these forums who got her 2110 up to a 2400 by going through sixty practice tests, two to three times each!! I mean, there's nothing bad about that; her work ethic is admirable, and she deserves the score. It's just kind of frustrating that some of us got the same or nearly the same output with soooo much less input, yet the scores look the same on paper.</p>
<p>I'm torn on the "work ethic vs. natural ability" debate, though. I guess neither is necessarily better -- the bottom line is, you can't get very far with one and not the other.</p>
<p>I just like to think that people like IV and me are just amazing 'cause we scored well without studying at all. >__></p>
<p>Yeah, this whole "natural intelligence" thing is skewed from the start so, there are some black and white examples but other than that...</p>
<p>
[quote]
the bottom line is, you can't get anywhere like Einstein or Newton with one and not the other, but you can succeed in life (in different ways) with hard work, and to a lesser degree, only natural talent (for the super-geniuses, although I've seen this happen like...0).
[/quote]
Fixed.</p>
<p>I guess.</p>
<p>It's kind of annoying that our society glorifies hard work so much more than talent, though. </p>
<p>/elitism</p>
<p>Poseur, don't you think a 2300+ on the first time might look slightly better than a 2110 -> 2300+? I'm not really concerned people on their second or third takes getting the 2350 I got the first time, because the subconscious effect tilts in my favor. We may not outwardly glorify talent over hard work, but inwardly, we do.</p>