<p>So my percentile on my Psat was a 69 I don't know what this means. Any thoughts? I am the first to do this stuff so I'm very lost and concerned</p>
<p>It means you scored higher than 69% of juniors that took the test (I think you get compared to juniors even if you aren’t one yourself).</p>
<p>So not that great?</p>
<p>It’s really not that great, FirstforCollege. I’m sorry to say that, because I don’t want to hurt feelings. Like yoda said, it’s better than 69% of the kids in your year group (I’m pretty sure you’re getting compared to your year group, not to juniors as yoda said). So in that regard, it’s good. You did better than average, which would be the 50% percentile. </p>
<p>Something to note is that if you’re not yet a junior in high school, you can bring that score up before the PSAT that really counts, which is the one you take in your junior year.</p>
<p>Thing is, colleges and the National Merit program don’t really talk about or look at percentages. They’re looking at the score itself. Somewhere between, maybe 213ish to 225ish is the minimum score to make National Merit Semifinalist – which eventually translates to scholarship money for most. The “magic” number (213-225ish) depends on which state you live in. It’s all a little complicated. But the people who get National Merit Semifinalist and then Finalist are more like at the 98-99%, I’m pretty sure. Something like that. This is all spelled out for you on the national merit org website – google it. You can also learn a lot about it by reading previous NMSF or NMF threads.</p>
<p>You have no reason to feel BAD about a 69%. It’s a great start, and it’s almost 20% better than average. But it’s not a “winning” score that will get you college scholarships or special attention. That doesn’t mean that other parts of your college apps won’t garner great attention! And it’s good precursor for the SAT. In fact, the SAT can get you some good college attention and scholarships too, if you get really good scores there. Good luck to you!!!</p>
<p>If you didn’t get a 95 for the commended or 99+ for semifinalist, in my opinion, 69 is the next best thing.</p>