<p>This gives percentiles for the 2011 PSAT. Are the prior years' versions of these archived anywhere?</p>
<p>I am trying to understand a big jump in VT's NMSF cutoff on the 2010 test (class of 2012) in context of "how hard" that year's test was compared to other years.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Most recent and archived state-by-state reports are available on the left menu bar here:</p>
<p>[PSAT/NMSQT</a> Data & Reports](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/psat]PSAT/NMSQT”>SAT Suite of Assessments – Reports | College Board)</p>
<p>Unfortunately the data are presented section-by-section and not cumulatively, but you should still be able to get a sense of historical performance for VT from these.</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>Does anyone know if the overall (not state-by-state) reports are archived somewhere as well?</p>
<p>They are not archived, as far as I know, but many can be found on the web. You can find some links here (see posts 17 and 18): <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1257840-psat-score-199-any-chance-making-commeded-scholar-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1257840-psat-score-199-any-chance-making-commeded-scholar-2.html</a></p>
<p>By the way, if you look at the historical ranges, you’ll see that the PSAT administered in 2011 was one of the hardest in recent memory. The 211 cutoff for the 99th percentile is the lowest of any test going back to 2003. That cutoff also dropped 3 points from the 2010 administration. The last time we had a drop like that (between the 2005 and 2006 tests), we saw some huge drops for a number of states. Check out post # 493 in this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/385453-official-national-merit-semifinalist-cutoff-scores-2007-a-33.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/385453-official-national-merit-semifinalist-cutoff-scores-2007-a-33.html</a></p>
<p>We don’t yet know the cutoffs based on the 2011 PSAT, right? Was the 2010 test especially easy? I’m trying to figure out if VT is trending with the test, or if more VT students are taking the PSAT seriously, causing the VT cutoffs to rise even when the difficulty of the test remains level. There was a +5 jump in the VT cutoff between the 2009 and 2010 tests.</p>
<p>p.s. thanks so much for the pointer in post #4</p>
<p>mathmomvt: we won’t know the official NMSF cutoffs based on the October 2011 administration of the PSAT until at least the end of August, but really it’s usually mid-September by the time there’s a complete list. NMSC never puts out a list of the official cutoffs; we usually figure it out here on CC when students start saying if they did or didn’t make the cutoff after being told by their schools.</p>
<p>VT has a very small number of PSAT test takers, so small changes can make a big difference. If you look at the VT state figures the number of top scorers went up quite a bit from 2009-2010. The average # of VT students scoring in the 75-80 range for each section in 2009 was 32. In 2010 the average top scorers per section was 53 (a 63% increase). The good news for you is that average went down to 40 in 2011, which suggests the cutoff will decrease this year.</p>
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<p>Yeah, I kind of figured that was at least part of what was going on. </p>
<p>I have a rising Junior, so I’m a year ahead of myself worrying about cutoffs just yet. His PSAT that will count will be this fall. Just watching/trying to figure out the trends…</p>
<p>Looking at the cutoff scores the last few years one might assume that cutoffs will only go up from here. That is true to some extent because the number of PSAT testtakers has been increasing and schools are doing more to prepare testtakers (such as offering sophomore PSAT). But there is also variability from test to test. </p>
<p>I think this is a year that, despite all the upward pressure, cutoffs will generally go down. As for next year, who knows. The one good fact, according to national statistics, is that the number of total high school students in the US recently hit its peak and is starting to decline slightly. Also, the fact that VT’s scores eased up a bit in 2011 suggests to me that the 5 point jump in 2010 was a bit of an aberration. We’ll know for sure in September.</p>