I’ve read the college board explanation but it still is not clear to me. CB states that a 500 on the PSAT math section is equivalent to a 500 on the SAT math section. If they arent both out of 1600 how can that be true? So a 1520 on the PSAT is equal to a 1600? Then how would it be possible for the scoring of the PSAT to SAT magically become in sync at say 500?
If you get a 750-760 on a section of the PSAT, I likely means that you would have scored above a 760 on the actual SAT. I would not worry about converting PSAT results to the SAT though if you have a nearly perfect score on the PSAT.
The scores equate directly. The PSAT 10 has a top score of 1520 (760 per section), and the PSAT 8/9 is 1440 (720 per section) because they don’t expect many 8th and 9th graders to score higher than that. The old system was supposed to be predictive of what you were likely to score when you took the SAT a year or 2 later. Now it’s supposed to be predictive of what you would score if you took it NOW. If you got a 750 on the PSAT, you will most likely get that or higher on the SAT, because you will be taking it as much as a year later. Students now in 8th and 9th grade take the PSAT8/9 and then the PSAT 10, and will have a series of scores to plot their progress.