@pickleberry7 This is good to know. I think if a kid scores very high the opposite effect can happen. They realize that they only got a few wrong and the selection index may/may not be high enough. If it’s not high enough, they can then think it’s not worth studying because I will always get a couple wrong. It’s great if kids can do well early and have it behind them. Nothing worse than worrying about testing as a Senior.
ok - I’ll share. my kid’s total score went down 10 points between 10 & 11th; although he missed less total questions. The curve was harsh! I’ll be having D23 practicing for this in a year for sure.
@bgbg4us Yep, for top kids it’s practicing and also a bit of luck on the curve. Since you have to be top % of the top 99% in many states. That’s just hard.
OH _ btw - I completely missed the NMF part of the OP! my kid is NOT NMF. but from this we’ve learned about how it can help with merit opps for our younger kid.
Unfortunately it’s one testing opportunity and isn’t really designed to accurately differentiate the tippy-top students.
Our urban public district offers the full series from PSAT 8/9 in 8th grade up through the PSAT/NMSQT in 11th. Our high school has about 1000 students in each grade and generally produces 1-3 NMF per year.
My current junior increased 80 points from 10-11. The current college freshman didn’t increase at all 10-11 on the PSAT but then added a solid 100 points for the SAT taken a couple months later, showing the PSAT performance was a fluke.
Neither did any specific PSAT prep other than ignoring the College Board’s daily tip email.
@JimQPublic That’s great that your school offers the testing on a regular basis. I’m personally not a fan of the NMF program but can be great for some kids for scholarships and other opportunities.
Interesting that your schools gets 1-3 per 1,000. Our public is about 400 kids and gets about 10-15 NMF and about the same commended per year. That’s a huge number IMO. Definitely more than their share % wise. Our kids are in private so it’s a different thing altogether. From what I have heard, score from Sophomore to Junior year are about the same or slightly higher. With practice or prep they can move a lot.
My D20 was in the same boat as @bgbg4us Scored very high with no prep Sophomore year and then went down junior year with similar number wrong, but harsh curve. If you’re in a high index state, making sure that you do not make a couple silly mistakes makes all the difference.
Our school district administers the PSAT 8/9 in 9th, the PSAT 10 in 10th, and the PSAT/NMSQT in 11th.
My kiddo was in 99% each year, but the score increased most dramatically between 9 & 10. Likely a function of having more math under their belt and familiarity with testing conditions.
To answer the original question, my child’s score went up 40 points between 10th to 11th grades. They had spent the summer self-preppping for the SAT & ACT, and took those tests in August & September.
@curiousme2 Was the bump in those years enough for them to get NMF? Looks like a pretty steep curve in most cases and in a competitive state, it doesn’t have to be 99%, but the high end of the 99%.
Yes, my child is a NMSF this year. Waiting for notification of NMF status.
@curiousme2 Great. Good luck to him/her.
My kid is an outlier, I guess. Her 9th grade score was unusually low for her because she had an issue with her math section. I can’t remember if it was timing or a bubbling issue. Weird, because she is usually 99% kid in math. She raised it by 250 points by 10th grade without studying but I think the scores were more what we expected. Raised it another 100 points for 11th grade to qualify for National Merit Semifinalist and then scored a very good score for SAT a month later and was done testing. She didn’t really study but did take a practice test to look at timing. She has always been a good test taker, though. Her school has 25-30 NMSF each year.
Nope. 1340 as a sophomore. Studied for the SAT during the summer between sophomore and junior years but didn’t look at anything specific to the PSAT. Took the SAT in August and then PSAT in Oct. 1490 (221? Can’t remember) and NMF. He did say he thought the PSAT math was tricker even though he got an 800 on SAT math. His only wrong questions came on the math section of the PSAT.
Our school has anywhere between 25-35 NMF each year out of a class around 700.
what book princeton review book did they read?
I got a 1350 Sophomore year and then raised that to 1500 Junior Year. Selection Index was 224 which was above my state’s 221 cut-off.
Out of a class of 556, my public school had 41 National Merit SemiFinalists, 41 Commended Scholars, and 6 National Hispanic Scholars this year. Every year, my school has the most NMS Semifinalists in the state. You can imagine how competitive my school is lol.
Just to add another data point, went from 1490 → 1510 from sophomore to junior year. Currently a senior so I didn’t have to take the test with the terrible 2019 curve.
My kid scored 1300 on the fall PSAT 10 as a sophomore, 1400 on the spring PSAT 10, then 1480 on the PSAT/NMSQT in the fall of her Junior year. So from 1300 to 1480 between fall 2016 and fall 2017.
She didn’t really prep.
@homerdog with a PSAT of 1490 the minimum would have been 222, though it could have been as high as 225.
@tchit87 Wow, I think I’d hate to be in a graduating class with those stats. Tough competition. Sounds like an excellent school!!
According to Art Sawyer’s blog, the number of PSAT scores over 1400 this year dropped 30%. It seems it is not unusual this year for junior PSAT to show a decrease compared to sophomore PSAT.
Yes, I think my kid is going to take the PSAT10 in the Spring just because the Fall test was so funky in terms of the curve. Just looking to see where work is needed before next Fall.