<p>How important is the PSAT for college applications? Will colleges see your PSAT scores? My SAT reasoning test score is pretty high (2300+) but my PSAT score (for junior year) is not so good (207). Will that hurt my chances? </p>
<p>Also, how much does being a commended student or a national merit semi-finalist help in the application process?</p>
<p>The PSAT score only matters for two things:</p>
<p>1) To make the cut to get on the marketing lists for colleges and universities that are looking for students who have scores in that range.</p>
<p>2) To qualify for NM, National Achievement, and/or National Hispanic honors. There are a number of colleges and universities out there that will throw scholarship money at students with those honors. There also are some local, regional, and employer scholarships for students with those honors. For more on that topic, visit the Financial Aid Forum.</p>
<p>The PSAT is not a factor in college admissions itself.</p>
<p>Being a commended student or semi-finalist only matters when you look at yourself in comparison to the applicant pool for that particular college. Say you are applying to an Ivy League school where many - perhaps most - applicants are at least commended students… Being one won’t really help you - but not being one might hurt.</p>
<p>Now say you are applying to a school that is still competitive - but not as highly selective. They may see some commended students - but it is less common - so being one makes you stand out a bit. If you are a semi-finalist - even more so. When you look at a college’s freshman profile - see if they list the number of National Merit students - this will give you a feel for how many they get and how much they care about it.</p>
<p>I would say that being one will help you more at slightly less selective schools.</p>
<p>Colleges will not see your PSAT score at all.</p>
<p>Will a score in the 190’s (71 math) still make the marketing lists for the Ivies and other elites?</p>
<p>Have no idea. They buy lists not just based on scores but also on other demographic info that interests them. If you are interested in a school - just contact them and ask to be on their mailing list. It won’t matter in the least how you get on their mailing list.</p>
<p>People think that getting mail from colleges means they want you. Not true - they want you to consider them, see if you are a good match, and if so then apply. The more students who apply to the school, the better the schools selective rating will be when they turn down most of those students they have been flooding with mail all year.</p>
<p>The other benefit of contacting the college to ask to be on their mailing list is that that is one way to initiate contact and begin demonstrating your interest in the college, for those colleges that track it.</p>
<p>Jonisigel–congratulations on your high SAT score! Please do not worry about your PSAT. If I could pick only one really high score between SAT and PSAT, I’d definitely pick SAT. While some colleges offer scholarships for high PSATs (through the National Merit program), many others consider high SATs for automatic scholarships, scholarships that also include many other factors, and admittance.</p>
<p>Just looked at the percentile scores. 71 math is 97th percentile. 192 aggregate is 93rd percentile. I would guess every good school will be marketing to 93rd percentile students. I know it means nothing, but I look forward to the brochures. See if I still feel that way after the hundredth one comes.</p>
<p>The PSAT is important but no where near as important as the SAT. I find the PSAT as a tool given to you to measure how well you perform on standardized tests before having to take the real thing.</p>