I am concerned about the score delay too. I have a question about another issue that I believe might cause some scores to cluster at the top end. This is the lowering of the score ceiling to 1520. This makes 8 different scores (from 1600-1530) unavailable. I would think for the Very high PSAT performers, they might need these additional scores to differentiate themselves. Do any of you have thoughts on this issue?
I’m very curious about the Stanford mailing. My homeschooled twins have taken a number of standardized tests in the past (including the old SAT and the ACT) and they have always had nearly identical scores. Those scores have always been within the top 2% by age group. They took the official practice PSAT and scored 1490 and 1500 out of the new 1520 max score. They both thought the actual PSAT was pretty comparable to the practice exam, but only one of them got the Stanford mailing and there was another similar mailing that the same one got. So that could mean that one of them misbubbled or did something else foolish, or it could mean nothing at all. I can’t think of any other reason why one would get the mailing and not the other. They both took the ACT last year, but one got a 34 and the other a 35. If Stanford was going to get addresses I don’t think they just ask for 35s or higher and not 34s.
My sophomore D18 got the Stanford summer program letter too. I’d be very very surprised (shocked in fact) if she scored in the top 5%. But then she has also received mail from higher tier schools than her sister from what I am assuming is the result of a 4 on her one freshman AP exam. All in all I think it is just marketing.
@likestowrite - I was very surprised at that too, but that is one area where CB should have a lot of experience. They know exactly how much improvement a student is likely to make between taking the PSAT and taking the SAT. They are saying that they’ve normed the new tests to show what a student would have gotten on the real SAT. In the past the PSAT has been designed to be marginally easier than the SAT, it just wasn’t represented in the scoring. Let’s hope that decades of experience would allow them to make the right choices.
What would be the scoring ranges for the top 5%? Just want to get a rough idea of what I scored.
@givemethtcheese - We won’t know until January. That’s the big question.
Did you get the Stanford letter?
@workinghard - Yes, I got it a couple weeks ago
I got a 206 on the PSAT (97th or 98th percentile I believe)as a sophomore but didn’t get a Stanford letter. However, I got an invitation from MIT to apply for their RSI program… I didn’t apply because it looked insanely competitive… anyone else get something similar?
Interesting article:
http://www.examiner.com/article/psat-scores-delayed-as-college-board-drops-the-ball-again
Got the letter for the extremely expensive Stanford program (D put the sticker on her computer), but not RSI. Sounds like if you got RSI your score was nearly perfect.
I’m guessing the majority of those 6th graders that are prepping are Asian. That’s why their mean scores are higher (nurture not nature). This is stated with great respect for that culture.
I got a Stanford letter a week or two ago and also last year when I scored in the top 5% last year as a sophomore… However, I did also take the SAT and scored in the top 10%, although I believe that doesn’t engender any college mail.
@Studious99 when did you get the RSI letter?
So no one got a UCSD letter BUMP
The UCSD thing is probably targeted at CA residents.
@nw2this i was wondering if others got this letter and if it had any relation with the PSAT
On December 2 @joeweller It also had information about USABO and TEP
I got brown invitation. Anyone know what percentage that would be? Top…?
DD got a Stanford invite. 2150 freshman SAT. 740 Math 2.
@hsscholar765 I got a Brown invitation through e-mail and a Stanford invitation through mail…but personally I don’t care too much for it. They’re mostly auto-generated mails sent through a student search system for basically anyone that fits some “basic requirements”.