Curious to hear from NMF’s who took the PSAT as a Sophomore if their scores were similar between Sophomore and Junior years? Did scores go up or down. Did your student study or prepare in any way or just take it blind?
Thanks.
Son took PSAT10 as sophomore and scored in 99th percentile. Jr year also scored in 99th percentile. He did not prepare for PSAT in any way as we didn’t know at the time what it could mean. However, he had taken the SAT a couple times before taking PSAT so I think that helped him feel more comfortable with the test taking. He’s also generally a good test taker.
ETA: he also scored higher on the English portion of the PSAT, which I think helped with the selection index (?)
Oops, I was wrong. His math score was higher.
D19’s Sophomore score was much lower than her qualifying Junior year score. She was close enough that I thought with enough prep (Khan Academy mostly) and a really good day, she’d have a shot. She ended up with a SI one point above the previous year’s qualifying SI for our state which was good because our state’s SI went up one for her year.
10th 1360. 11th 1490 (224). She did a SAT prep class at a local place the summer before Jr year PSAT. She also had a really good math year in 10th - her precalculus teacher solidified a lot of the math I think. She says she thinks practice tests helped more than the actual prep class, but who knows?
NMF1 - PSAT increased 20 points from 10th to 11th; selection index increased by 5
NMF2 - PSAT increased 60 points from 10th to 11th; selection index increased by 10
Possible NMS3 - PSAT increased 170 points from 10th to 11th; selection index increased by 25
Strategy for all three: Read a book to learn test-taking strategies, then practiced on the free Khan Academy application through the College Board site.
@biscuiteers Seems like a good strategy given that the test taking is as critical as the actual questions given the recent Oct test. If you can only miss one or so per section, kids have little room for error.
IMO, the strategic aspect is huge and often overlooked. All three read the same book from Princeton Review and found it extremely helpful.
My school administers the PSAT to all 9-11 graders during school hours, so I took it three years in a row.
Freshman PSAT: 1280
Sophomore PSAT: 1410
Junior PSAT: 1470 (222, NMSF)
I did not study between my freshman and sophomore year. I studied extensively the summer before my junior year.
My older brother scored 1470 sophomore year and 1470 again Junior year. This was with extensive studying during the summer using the same program I did (my dad, haha). He was not a NMSF as his math/CR/Writing balance was different from mine and his SI was 221, just a bit too low in our state.
DS had SI of 224 and 220 in 10th/11th respectively. He says most of his friends dropped as well.
My son took the PSAT as a sophomore and I was surprised he got a 1480 with very little prep, just a few practice exams so that he was familiar with the format and time restriction. He did 10 or so practice tests and met with a tutor a few times to prep for the August SAT which he got a 1580 on. He was not at all confident wrt the latest PSAT so his 1510 was a pleasant surprise. He was sure his score had gone down from when he was a sophomore. So glad he’s done with that part of it.
I had planned for my freshman D to take the SAT in the spring as prep for the PSAT. Is it basically the same thing or should she take a PSAT?
@FSUdad93 That’s a different conversation. Don’t know if you can take the SAT as a Freshman (since they save the records but you should probably ask in a different thread as its likely it has been covered elsewhere) This is about the PSAT and scoring if you take it early, does it change or not and how much.
S took SAT in 6th grade (was considering CTY program) scored 2250/2400. PSAT 11th grade 240/240. SAT 11th grade 2400/2400. One practice test in 6th.
My score went up 70 points in 11th grade. Math score went down but reading went up.
Both DD20 and DD21 took the PSAT their sophomore years with no prep. They both scored around 1480, with SIs between 220 and 221 (I can’t specifically recall the exact numbers right now but I believe they either both scored 220 or one of them got a 221). Given we live in CA, which has a high cutoff (222-223), they knew they’d have to study hard for the junior year test to have a chance of qualifying. They both studied using Khan Academy and old SAT practice tests over the summer before junior year. They also did Critical Reader’s question of the day to do a little extra EBRW practice. They treated it as SAT practice and took the SAT in October within a week of the PSAT. Both qualified with the exact same SI (226), and both got great SAT scores to boot. However, we never felt NMSF was a lock for either of them because California’s score cutoff is so high and there is very little margin for error in our state pretty much every year. It was a nailbiter for us both years waiting for scores.
@amsunshine Yes, I hear you. In some states, with a super high SI, there is almost no room for error. So you can study but you also have to be a bit lucky. We all know one questions shouldn’t knock someone out but it definitely does in the high SI states.
S18 got a 193 index soph year with no prep. He took a PSAT/SAT review course at his school in the early fall of junior year, which emphasized a lot of practice tests. He went up to a 224 index junior year.
My scores were the same 10th and 11th grade (1470 each), but my subsections changed (10th: 730 ERW, 740 M, 220 SSI; 11th: 740 ERW, 730 M, 221 SSI). For Texas, that made all the difference when it came to securing National Merit. I didn’t study at all before the sophomore PSAT, and only studied a little before the junior PSAT. My studying that I did do focused on the reading section, so that and dumb luck influenced the index shift.
My daughter took it as a sophmore and her score was 1420. She started studying in May for the SAT Math II subject test which she took in June or July and scored a 790. She continued studying, aiming for NMSF and scored a 1490 this fall as a Junior, which gave her a 224 selection index (a safe NMSF score in our state). She took the regular SAT two weeks later and scored a 1580.
Shooting for NMSF gave her really good motivation to study hard overall. She can put the SAT behind her and move on to other ways of strengthening her college apps now.