PSAT Oct 2019 Harsh Scaling Test Scores

Paying for College National Merit Aid
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This took me a while to figure out. My kid took the Oct test as a Sophomore. Usually gets 99% in these tests ( has taken SAT and SSAT), the PSAT score was very low comparatively. Percentage in PSAT was top 2% but the SI was extremely low. To get from 98% to 99% and the SI needed would mean virtually no mistakes. Effectively one would have to get only 1-2 wrong to get NMF in our state. And didn’t even look as though it was guaranteed. I had to plug it in several times and do back solving. Looks at though the steep curve means some will be in or out based on a single question or two rather than several wrong questions.
The jump from 98% to 99% ( and SI to meet the threshold was a huge jump of more than 20 points that seemed odd to me).

They really need to work on these tests. My kid is going to take the PSAT/10 test to practice again. I’m actually glad my kid has taken standardized test before and has confidence. Otherwise, this result would have been a shock.
I still don’t get the high % and the low score. Maybe I just read it wrong, maybe a 98% is very common and it’s only between the top 1% of the 1% scores. IDK.

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The percentages are misleading. One set compares your kid to a made up group & the other set compares to previous years’ cohorts, not the current. Art at Compass Prep talks about the bogus percentages in his NMSF blog post.

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@Reebtoor Thanks. Honestly, given how crazy the Oct test was, I think the best way to get an assessment is to take it again. Still with high SI numbers in some states, a kid virtually has to get a perfect score with just one or two wrong (total) in all sections.

The % does seem to be very misleading. The difference between 98% and 99% & is going to be huge for a student who hopes for NMF(especially in high SI states). This is especially true if one is looking at previous years cohorts. So it’s not just getting a 99%, it’s getting a 99% score on the higher end of the 99%. Oh brother.