DD is a freshman who took the PSAT 8/9 cold and scored a 1220 out of 1440 (610 Reading and Writing and 610 Math). This was in the 98th percentile. Question is for PSAT as a junior.
How hard is it to move from 98th to 99.5% percentile? How much time and effort should she put into this if National Merit is a possibility?
Probably quite a bit. For merit she will likely need to take about 5 practice psat tests to be safe. Also, keep in mind that psat 8/9 is MUCH easier than normal psat. The curve and questions will be harder. To be safe, I would take normal psat and see where she is. If she is in 1430-ish area (99th percentile), she can expect merit after 4-ish tests. If not, it might take more.
My eighth grader took the PSAT8/9 also. She scored 640 EBRW and 720 Math. She missed 7 on writing and 2 on reading.
This confirms what i have always known. She is strong in math and weaker in EBRW. I am having her read more, such as The Economist (she really is interested in this one). I plan on prepping her the summer before 10th grade on Grammar and seeing how she does on the 10th grade PSAT. And where to go from there.