<p>Hi there!
I'm going to be a junior this fall. I've started to develop an interest in the National Merit Scholar contest and want to make it to the commended student cut off. As a sophomore, I got a 177 with a 58 in reading, a 61 in math, and a 58 in writing skills. What can I do until October to bring up my score? Are there prep books I should get? What kind of score do I need to achieve in order to be a commended student (I live in TN)?
Thanks to everyone who replies! :)</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, I noticed on my score report that the reason my scores were lower was because I missed a lot of the hard questions but got the easy and medium questions. It really dragged my score down :/</p>
<p>Put together a study and testing plan.
You will be taking the SAT. Studying for the SAT and PSAT are the same except no Essay.
Google for CB PSAT practice tests.
Websites to look at: critical reader, pwnthesat, SATQuantum, Khan Academy
Websites for “free stuff”. TheUltimateSATwebsite, officialsatexams, xtremepapers</p>
<p>You might also check the stickied posts in the SAT Preparation sub-forum</p>
<p>@TotallyTrudy the Commended score can change a bit from year to year, for 2015 grads it is 201. If I were to suggest only one book I’d say the get the Official SAT Blue book put out by the College Board. Any particular reason you are aiming for Commended? Most people are aiming for scores to make it to NMSF . These scores not only vary from year to year but from state to state. For 2014, students in TN needed a score of 212 or better. </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for your response @3scoutmom!
I was aiming for Commended because I don’t feel like I would make it to the semifinals or finals. Wishful thinking though! And I’ll definitely look into the College Board’s book.</p>
<p>I was just wondering but how does your state matter?
because I’m from TN as well and I will like to know
thanks </p>
<p>@yomyomf, each state has a certain score cut off so that the semifinalists have an equal geographical representation I think. So some scores have higher cut off scores than others.</p>