I got a 1110/1520 on my PSAT. Im in 10th grade, I also didn’t study. I got college letters from decently good schools in the top 50 in the US, one even 15th, all regarding my PSAT scores. Is it actually any good? The site said I was in the 83 percentile, but what does that mean when it comes to good colleges? What ranked colleges will my score get me into, top 50?
My GPA is a 3.75-3.8; weighted it is 4.185-4.2. Is my GPA with my PSAT score a good enough combination for ivy league or am I still looking at schools that are top 50? What should i aim for on the SAT (its now out of 1600)
School start hunting for new students as soon as they become aware. Do not be overly impressed with the fact that they send you emails or snail mail. They tend to cast a wide net in hopes of getting applicants. More applicants can improve the school’s ratings versus other schools. (No, it really doesn’t make much sense…)
Your scores are fine for a 10th grader. They are not fabulous, but they are fine. The PSAT really is for Juniors and what you learn over the next year should help improve your score naturally.
As for Ivy League…they are looking for everyone to apply, but typically only offer admission to students with very high stats (that is due more to competitiveness than a need to have such a high score to do well).
I heard that colleges only send mail to kids whose scores meet their schools standards, hence why i didn’t get letters from UPENN or ivies. What is considered “fabulous”? I know the grading scale just changed.
For Ivys 1110/1520 will probably automatically go into the reject pile unless you won the nobel prize or something (in that case your PSAT scores are probably way higher)
Well, the top 50 colleges are still a pretty competitive set. Since you are a sophomore, work hard on your grades and get some extra prep for your testing in your junior year. You have time to improve your test scores. And ignore those mailings - they are just intended to increase the number of apps so that the colleges can reject even more people and then appear “selective” and climb up on the USNWR rankings.
If you are targeting selective universities, look up their entering freshmen stats on collegedata.com
This should give you a reality check. I think the average SAT scores for the top 50 colleges are somewhere in the 90-95th percentile, if not higher.
I actually did look into it a little bit after I posted this and its combined like my psat scores are 80th percentile (but I didn’t study and also haven’t taken algebra 2)but my grades are very high and I’m a very active student. And I looked at how colleges took in students and sat aren’t a deciding factor its more so ur gpa
Some schools do not sent out as many fliers as others. S1 had a nearly perfect SAT (CR+M) and ‘only’ got fliers from 7 of the 8 Ivies. He didn’t care because he is a STEM guy and had no interest in most of them anyway. The purpose of the fliers is to generate interest. Many of those schools want a large number of applicants, even if you are unlikely to get in. On the other hand, just because a school does not send a flier does not mean they would not be interested in you as a candidate for admission.
Fabulous to me would be probably 1350+ out of 1600 (SAT). Some would say higher. As you noticed, gpa can be a bigger deal. The test scores are mostly a hurdle or a tie-breaker. As long as you do well-enough, it is the rest of your resume that is important. The reason those schools show so many nearly perfect scores is that the students who really want to go there tend to obsess and try to get any advantage they can. I have seen posts for kids with great SAT scores wondering if they should test again for a ‘perfect’ score. That is just silly unless you just like the personal challenge of trying to do it.
@courtz215 College letters from PSATs mean nothing.
Look at this link: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/scores/who-receives-scores
It shows the organizations that get your scores. It also specifically says that colleges don’t see your PSAT scores. I got around an 80th percentile score last year and got a letter from Brown. I got borderline 99th percentile this year but no Brown letter. Some schools like UChicago are notorious for this. I keep getting large posters and mails but my score is not impressive at all for UChicago. The letters are a great way to find out about some schools if you want but they mean nothing in terms of admissions.