<p>My middle boy who is a sophomore is supposed to take the PSAT for the first time October 15th it appears. Does the first attempt count toward National Merit or only the second one in the junior year? Thank you. I'm trying to decide if he should prep.</p>
<p>Only the Jr year psat</p>
<p>@vandyeyes Thank you.</p>
<p>This is the prep. Only the year before graduation counts (students who intend to graduate a year early can have the sophomore year count).</p>
<p>I would only have him prep if he is someone who suffers from test anxiety. Many students take the 10th grade PSAT cold. The HS should provide a blank practice test when he registers. Completing that may provide a comfort level w/o actually spending any time studying. If he has not yet completed Alg 2, some of the math material may be unfamiliar. </p>
<p>@CT1417 I’ll let him take it cold. Our oldest boy missed NM qualifying by just a few points and then aced the SAT a few months later. If he’d studied just a little for PSAT he probably could have qualified. A lesson we can apply to son #2. :-)</p>
<p>Agreed….and then establishing a plan to take the old format SAT by Jan of his Jr year.</p>