My daughter didn’t do anything to prepare as far as I know. But she tests well and made NMF or whatever it is. Got her a $2000/year scholarship at the college she went to because of it.
@gallentjill - There are a number of places that have automatic merit-based admission and scholarships for GPA and test scores. The ACT score needed normally is published right alongside the SAT equivalent.
@Bubblewrap666 - Happykid wasn’t in danger of qualifying for anything either. She slept in late and then we went out to brunch on PSAT day.
No, my kids didn’t - but if the 10th grade PSAT puts the kid within a few points of the NM cutoff for that state, then it can be worthwhilie to study in 11th grade. My son hadn’t taken a 10th grade PSAT and it never occured to me to have him study in 11th grade – so it was a huge surprise when he made the cutoff. My daugher did take a PSAT in 10th grade and did not do particularly well - she’s not strong on tests and was living abroad the fall semester of her junior year, so I didn’t worry about it since she would never have made the cutoff in any event.
I don’t think it’s worth the effort for kids unless kids have fairly high scores in 10th grade because then it is just putting unnecessary pressure on a kid.
It also depends somewhat on college goals – if the student isn’t interested in attending the schools that give large NM awards, then the status isn’t really worth all that much. It netted my son about $4000 in aid money – nothing to scoff at, but it didn’t make all that much of a dent in the tuition when it came down to it. Most of the colleges my daughter applied to offered any sort of money or recognition for NM status, except for one college which was a safety that she never visited – so in the end even if she had been better at test-taking, it wouldn’t have mattered.
I think a few people have commented on this already, but in case it is not clear for gallentjill: The 10th grade test does not count for anything, unless the student is graduating from high school a year early. So it is truly a practice test at that point. The only one that counts for scholarships is the one taken in the fall the year before high school graduation.
In unusual circumstances, a student might have a score that qualified for NMSF in 10th grade, and a score that did not qualify in 11th grade. That student would be out of luck. This could happen if the student was very tired on the test day in 11th grade, and fresher in 10th grade, or if the student had a bad cold in 11th grade, but was well in 10th grade, and the student was near the margin for qualification. It could also happen if the student qualified by the cut-off score in the state of residence in 10th grade, but then moved, and did not qualify in 11th grade by the cut-off score in the new state or residence–even though the student probably would have attended school in the new state for only 6 weeks or so.
More typically, PSAT scores go up naturally, without studying, between 10th grade and 11th grade. Here’s my best guide to whether the student should prep for the 11th grade PSAT:
Maybe the most useful: Usually the PSAT score information will include the student’s percentile among 10th grade test-takers, as well as the overall percentile. If it is not right on the score sheet, you can probably locate this. If the student’s score does not qualify for NMSF according to the state cut-off, but the student’s score is very high among 10th graders (99th percentile), then the student most likely does not need extensive prep. The student might go through some practice SAT’s from the books of real SAT’s. The natural score rise from year to year will probably carry the student over the top in the next year.
If the 10th grade score already meets the NMSF cut-off, then the student should try to be rested and stay well for the test in 11th grade. I don’t think any prep is needed.
If the student lives in a state with a relatively high cut-off for NMSF (Massachusetts, Connecticut, California + other states, some of which have had cut-off scores that have risen a lot–I don’t know all the states with the highest cut-off scores), then it would probably be worthwhile for the student to prepare seriously, if the 10th grade result indicates that the student might wind up near the cut-off line. On the other hand, if the student lives in a state with a comparatively low cut-off (Wyoming and West Virginia used to fit into this category, but may not any more), then less prep is needed.
If the student has taken standardized tests throughout the school years, you can look at the pattern of performance on those tests. If very high, then you should probably investigate the national pool used to norm the particular tests that the school has given. In pursuit of “all of the children are above average,” some school districts will try out various test companies until they find one where their students score above average, on average. In that case, the 10th grade PSAT is probably the best guide as to what to expect and what preparation is needed. On the other hand, if your school district is using the same standardized tests as the public schools in Palo Alto (for instance), the results should be a good guide in themselves.
The toughest call is when the student scores somewhat below the qualifying level, but high among 10th graders (say 95th percentile or so). Then if the student is willing to prep, it could be worthwhile. NMF status carries automatic full-tuition scholarships at some colleges, tuition + at others, and tuition discounts at still others. If a parent works for a company with corporation-sponsored NM scholarships, that can be a route to a financial award though National Merit. The awards directly from the National Merit Corporation were $2500 the last I looked, though they may have risen now. This is a useful amount of money, even if the family is full pay.
And then after the tests, figure out when the results are out so your guidance counselor isn’t sitting on them. A student who makes NMS level still has to write an essay to get the final award. There have been threads where students miss the award because a guidance counselor simply didn’t give them the results in a timely manner.
It is good not to prepare for the 10th grade’s (early September), and read the result to see which part(s) your kid(s) need to improve (language, writing, math… or running out of time). It will help your kid(s) to prepare the 11th grade’s which counts most, the SAT, and ACT later, so your kids won’t waste time on the parts which he/she is already strong.
D did not prepare for all her 3 PSAT tests (9th, 10th and 11th), and got commended for her 11th. Now look back (and having reviewed her 11th’s diagnosed result), we could have asked for her to prepare harder (if we review her 10th grade’s diagnosed result) on the parts she was weak and worked on her pace on certain sections. Then maybe she could have gotten higher PSAT in her 11th grade, ACT and SAT scores without too much additional effort. Felt D missed a chance of getting a lot of merit scholarship opportunities by just a few points on her tests. Don’t have another child to use for our experience, so want to share with who having children in 9th to 11th grade ages.
If your child is going to prepare for the SAT then you might as well have them start the Summer before 11th grade and have them take the October or December test. That way you prepare for both the important PSAT and the SAT.
My sons’ high schools had the kids start taking it in 9th grade as practice. They took it cold in 9th and 10th. S1 looked at the practice book in 11th but didn’t prepare – made NMF, which at the time, got him $3,000/yr if he attended an -instate school. Got him $1000 for one year at the school he actually attended.
OP – the cutoff score will vary by state – it’s the top 1% of scores in each state. When my kids took the exams ten years ago, the cutoff ranged from 208 in GA, 215 in CA and 224 in MD (those were states I followed due to my kids, nieces and family friends who were asking me for help with the process).
S2 had a big math/verbal split. His scores increased from 181 to 205 to 218 (old 240 scale) between 9th and 11th, thanks to the rigorous pre-IB math and English classes. DH worked with him on some math as well, but nothing crazy. We didn’t send them out to tutors or classes – just worked from old tests. He missed NMSF cutoff by one math question – it was one where he had to write in the answer and then bubble it – he wrote the correct answer, forgot to bubble, so it was counted as wrong. Would have made NMSF in 47 other states that year, but not ours! He went up another 110 points on the SAT later on junior year. Wound up with a higher math than verbal, which astounded him.
It was worth it for S2 to practice for the 11th grade PSAT, because he took the actual SAT not long afterwards and he had already done most of the preparation.I strongly recommend getting ALL testing (inc SAT-II) out of the way by no later than the end of junior year. Both of my kids took the SAT in Feb, with the option to take it again in June. One of my kids was one-and-done; the other took it a second time in June but did zero prep. Was too burned out from AP/IB exams. Had he not been happy with his scores, we would have considered the ACT, as his IB program said their students tended to do well on it due to the multi-subject area focus. ACT does nothing for NMSF, though.
Senior year is crazy enough without stressing about SAT/ACT tests. It will also give you a real score with which your S/D can develop a reasonable lost of college options vs. “If I take the SAT the morning after my senior Homecoming Dance, I know I can increase my score 200 points!”
I am a little worried about my daughter’s math falling from 10th to 11th since she took pre-calc in 9th. But there’s no way to target an area for her to study.
Have her sign up for the SAT Question of the Day. S2 said it was really helpful. The biggest part of preparation is understanding the types of questions they’ll ask. The QOTD also explains the answer, which is also a good exercise to understanding. http://media.collegeboard.com/email/libraries/samples/sample_qotd.html
S1 was way ahead in math and so looked at a few questions to make sure he remembered Alg II concepts.
D18’s HS has the kids take a PSAT in 10th grade and then the official PSAT in 11th grade. Those who scored in the top 10% had free, school-sponsored PSAT training for a few weeks in 11th grade. D18, frustratingly, only went to the free training a couple of times. She scored 209 in 10th grade and then 223 in 11th to get NMF.
One thing I would probably do again if we had another kid would be to have them take a “practice” ACT in 10th grade like we did with D18. I figured, she’s taking a “practice” SAT so why not take a practice ACT as well to demystify the whole thing. She got a 30 in 10th, a 33 in 11th, and a 35 in 12th grade. Again, frustratingly little prep for them. I had to nag her to death to take one practice math test in the Princeton Review Cracking the ACT book.
BTW, we were “done” with testing in 11th grade. Her scores were great. Unfortunately, we didn’t add the essay to either the SAT or ACT and at least one of the colleges she was going to apply to required it, so she had to take another round of the SAT and ACT in 12th grade.
My sons’ high schools had the kids start taking it in 9th grade as practice. They took it cold in 9th and 10th. S1 looked at the practice book in 11th but didn’t prepare – made NMSF, which at the time, got him $3,000/yr if he attended an -instate school. Got him $1000 for one year at the school he actually attended.
OP – the cutoff score will vary by state – it’s the top 1% of scores in each state. When my kids took the exams ten years ago, the cutoff ranged from 208 in GA, 215 in CA and 224 in MD (those were states I followed due to my kids, nieces and family friends who were asking me for help with the process).
S2 had a big math/verbal split. His scores increased from 181 to 205 to 218 (old 240 scale) between 9th and 11th, thanks to the rigorous pre-IB math and English classes. DH worked with him on some math as well, but nothing crazy. He missed NMSF cutoff by one math question – it was one where he had to write in the answer and then bubble it – he wrote the correct answer, forgot to bubble. Was counted wrong. Would have made NMSF in 47 other state that year, but not ours! He went up another 110 points on the SAT later on junior year. Wound up with a higher math than verbal, which astounded him.
D’s school has kids take it cold in 11th grade. No prep and she scored a 227 on the SI (and became an NMF). She was surprised to hear about a couple of friends who took prep courses beforehand. I didn’t know that was a thing either. If you think you might be close to the cutoff and could use the benefits of being a NMF, then it would make sense to do some prep work since it should help you for the SAT too, though I think paid prep courses are over the top. Khan Academy resources are excellent, and free!
Our school doesn’t care what you do. Sign up for it in 10th sign up for it in 11th they don’t care. As long as you log in and pay the fee. All these people posting about what their school does are living in a different Universe than us.
This is really fascinating! Thanks everyone. Looking at the state cutoffs, it seems like D was just a couple of points below the cut off for our state - NY. It must be incredibly frustrating for NJ kids who are right across the state line. Given the schools D is looking at, I don’t think it will make much of a difference in terms of tuition for us, but what a nice accolade it would have been! I will definitely be on this site earlier with D3.
We live in one of the highest cutoff states. My oldest did well on the PSAT in 10th grade (offered to all of the kids) so did a little prep to be aware of the types of questions and made NMF. My others were not really in range based on 10th grade PSATs so did not prep and did not even get commended, although scores went up quite a lot. The younger two had great math SATs but the verbal was not strong enough that even with studying they would have gotten over 700 on the verbal.
If a kid is a good test taker or is interested, can’t hurt to do some prep for PSAT as it paves the way for the SATs as well.
My kid took the PSAT in 10th and got a decent but not spectacular score. He “studied” with Khan Academy all summer long between 10th and 11th, then the 11th grade PSAT dropped 10 points. He took the ACT in February and got a much better score.
The school system is giving them the SAT for free next Tuesday. I’ve been encouraging/nagging the kid to prep for it, since he is being forced to take it he might as well give himself a chance to do well on it. But, you know, he spends fifteen minutes watching a math video then watches random youtube videos for two hours.
Ah, well. He has other chances to retake both tests if he decides he needs to. And if he doesn’t want to take the tests again he needs to curb his ambition and we will edit the college list so it has fewer highly selective schools.
