How are my PSAT scores? How do I improve?

Test Preparation
1

<p>Hi, I'm a sophomore, British Indian (although born in USA), and in the top 5% of my class (a class of about 400). I will have taken about 6 or 7 AP's before I graduate, and all other classes as Level 1 (Honors, highest) or Enriched (even higher than Honors for only math classes). I attend a somewhat highly-ranked public high school (top 10 in state). I currently have a weighted 4.3 GPA, unweighted of 3.7.</p>

<p>I'm hoping to bring that up my junior and senior year, which will be a challenge because of APs.</p>

<p>I took the PSAT and scored a 201/240 first try (rough equivalent of 2010 on SATs). I'll be taking the PSAT again and then SAT I in the Fall most likely. Any studying suggestions/ ways to do well? Also, do colleges look at the essay section?</p>

<p>FYI: I will be applying Financial Aid to probably all colleges...</p>

<p>EC's:
-Piano for 10 years- Master Classes and competitions
-I have rowed crew and been in track for the past two years in HS (JV crew, JV track)
-Heavily involved in Mock Trial and Debate Club- invited to opportunities within Town Government, shadowing state officials, I'm now applying to my State Youth Council chosen by the senator.
-Participate in MIT Splash program, take science classes- lab assistant
-Show Choir for past two years (Varsity)</p>

<p>Community Service:
-I live right next to a very impoverished city, so I am part of a tutoring program where I help students with their schoolwork, teach them music, etc.
-Volunteered at a senior home where I helped out, and also played piano for them.</p>

<p>-Total Hours: Around 200. I hope to be doing more this summer.</p>

<p>Misc:
-fluent in Hindi (can read, write, speak, understand)
-hobby of mine is scuba diving- I have been certified for 2 years now.</p>

<p>I know I'm only a sophomore, but I understand that I need to start thinking about college early. My dream school would be Cornell A&S because I am passionate about writing, government, etc., but I also love science and chemistry. The combination would be a great environment for me I think. My plan would be to apply ED.</p>

<p>Other colleges I'm interested in are:
UC Berkeley
UChicago
UNC Chapel Hill
Boston College
Safety schools: UMass Amherst, UMass Lowell</p>

<p>Again, since I'm a sophomore, I'm not too sure of exactly where I want to go, but I just want to know how I'm doing to be a contender for top-tier colleges. Please tell me what I should be doing more of, or changing. Please don't be afraid to be harsh.</p>

<p>Thanks for your time!</p>

2

<p>Hi, I’m a sophomore, British Indian (although born in USA), and in the top 5% of my class (a class of about 400). I will have taken about 6 or 7 AP’s before I graduate, and all other classes as Level 1 (Honors, highest) or Enriched (even higher than Honors for only math classes). I attend a somewhat highly-ranked public high school (top 10 in state). I currently have a weighted 4.3 GPA, unweighted of 3.7.</p>

<p>I’m hoping to bring that up my junior and senior year, which will be a challenge because of APs.</p>

<p>I took the PSAT and scored a 201/240 first try (rough equivalent of 2010 on SATs). I’ll be taking the PSAT again and then SAT I in the Fall most likely. Any studying suggestions/ ways to do well? Also, do colleges look at the essay section?</p>

<p>FYI: I will be applying Financial Aid to probably all colleges…</p>

<p>EC’s:
-Piano for 10 years- Master Classes and competitions
-I have rowed crew and been in track for the past two years in HS (JV crew, JV track)
-Heavily involved in Mock Trial and Debate Club- invited to opportunities within Town Government, shadowing state officials, I’m now applying to my State Youth Council chosen by the senator.
-Participate in MIT Splash program, take science classes- lab assistant
-Show Choir for past two years (Varsity)</p>

<p>Community Service:
-I live right next to a very impoverished city, so I am part of a tutoring program where I help students with their schoolwork, teach them music, etc.
-Volunteered at a senior home where I helped out, and also played piano for them.</p>

<p>-Total Hours: Around 200. I hope to be doing more this summer.</p>

<p>Misc:
-fluent in Hindi (can read, write, speak, understand)
-hobby of mine is scuba diving- I have been certified for 2 years now.</p>

<p>I know I’m only a sophomore, but I understand that I need to start thinking about college early. My dream school would be Cornell A&S because I am passionate about writing, government, etc., but I also love science and chemistry. The combination would be a great environment for me I think. My plan would be to apply ED.</p>

<p>Other colleges I’m interested in are:
UC Berkeley
UChicago
UNC Chapel Hill
Boston College
Safety schools: UMass Amherst, UMass Lowell</p>

<p>Again, since I’m a sophomore, I’m not too sure of exactly where I want to go, but I just want to know how I’m doing to be a contender for top-tier colleges. Please tell me what I should be doing more of, or changing. Please don’t be afraid to be harsh.</p>

<p>Thanks for your time!</p>

3

<p>To improve for the SATs (and PSAT as well) get familiar with the test. Take practice tests and make sure to get writing down, as the writing curve on the PSAT is generally very harsh. I think I got 2 wrong for a 71 this year, which, compared to my 2 wrong and 11 essay on the October SAT was a 780, and 1 wrong and 11 essay on the March SAT was an 800. Here are some of my stats to give you an idea how much better you are off now than I was.
Soph Year:
Psat 181
Junior Year
Psat 217 (Made the projected cut off by 1-2 points)
SAT October 2200 (670 R 750 M 780 W 11 E)
SAT March 2330 (730 R 800 M 800 W 11 E).</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T959 using CC</p>

4

<p>Bump bump!</p>