@BertieMom As far as prep goes, I really only did SAT English prep. I attended four classes at an Asian SAT-Prep course, (which I feel did not help) and I read a guide on SAT English. Totally, I would say I spent about 30-40 hours on the English section and around 4-5 hours on the Math section between my Sophomore and Junior years.
WA State: 1500, SI 226. Last year: 1460, freshman year: 201 (old PSAT). I did some khan academy prep but nothing rigorous, just took some practice tests and practiced when I felt like it.
My son scored 1360 in 9th grade; 1400 in 10th grade and 1500 this year. No formal prep but a few practice tests.
I scored a 1460 with an NMSC Selection Index of 221. Is that sufficient to qualify as a semifinalist (I live in California)?
My son took the PSAT as a sophmore this year, no prep - 1440. We are in CA. I am hoping that with preparing for next years SAT or ACT in the summer, he may get his score up to national merit contention.
This fantastic son of yours sounds like he will definitely get national merit next year. I would say that a 1520 is a guarantee. However, raising that 88.3% in English to an A is gonna be really hard, and you should not get all over him for it.
@BertieMom Sophomore year: 1330/197. Junior year: 1490/224. The only prep I did between October of my sophomore year and October of my junior year started less than a month before the test. I did two practice tests, met with a local tutor twice (total of 4 hours), and did some khan academy/prep book work for about 1-2 hours per week for the three weeks before the PSAT.
I’m a junior!
Freshman Score: 192 (Old PSAT)
Sophomore Score: 207
Junior Score: 212
Level of prep: Not very much
My son got 1510, index 226. He’s a junior.
He has been prepping for SAT since October - probably total hours 30-40 total mostly math reviews (it’s been a while since he did geometry).
@hcmom65 are you talking to yourself??
Last year got a 1340 possibly bc I didn’t care enough to actually try… This year got a 1500… No prep
Sorry, I’m probably going to put a damper on the thread, but wanted to give everyone another perspective.
Last year as a sophomore I scored a 1430 with no prep and no stress going into the test. (690 E+W, 740 M, 212 SI)
Over the summer and throughout the fall I did a little khan academy practice, but parents didn’t want to pay for tutoring like many of my classmates, as they thought national merit would be in the bag (FL SI is approximately 217). PSAT rolls around and I score exactly the same as last year: 1430. Many of my classmates who scored in the low 1300’s last year improved to 1470-1500 after lots of practice. Maybe I’m just a special case, but just remember to take nothing for granted.
Good luck to everyone, hope it went well, and I’m still happy to be commended! Hope to see a lot of this year’s sophomores as national merit semifinalists next year!
I scored a 1450 (SI 217) this year and a 1390 (SI 207) as a sophomore. Michigan SI is approximately 216 so it appears I’ll be cutting it rather close.
My D took the PSAT as a sophomore and scored in the high 1300s. Given my D’s crazy school and extra curricular schedule, I hired a local tutor (who was a former National Merit finalist 20+ years ago) to work with my D one-on-one, and focus on the types of problems she had missed on the 2015 PSAT. The tutor was very reasonable, compared to the cost of the “brand name” tutoring centers, and just a bit more than a local test center that worked with groups of students. In between sessions, the tutor had my D complete parts of practice tests, and then bring them to her lesson. The tutor would score them and go over in detail every answer my daughter missed, or skipped. She also reviewed test taking strategies. I paid for about 10-11 hours of tutoring and consider it money well spent.
My D scored 1510 on the Oct. SAT, and 1510 on the PSAT (Index 227-CA). We are just trying to decide if she should take the February ACT.