<p>Last year, as a sophomore, I took the PSAT and scored a 214 (M: 76, CR: 69, W: 69, I think), which is above the NMSQT qualifying score in my state.</p>
<p>In the past month, I started taking practice tests, and I noticed an alarming trend. My writing score keeps dropping. Today's test was the worst, with a total score of 206 (M: 76, CR: 68, W: 62). Is there anything I can do to reverse this trend?</p>
<p>Also, how necessary is NMSQT to college admissions? I'm afraid that not qualifying for NMSQT could affect my chances.</p>
<p>That’s weird! I’d say just keep going over the questions you got wrong, why you got them wrong, grammar rules etc. You know what you know, so it might just be your state of mind when you take it, or bad luck or something. Don’t let this trend make you lose confidence in yourself though- being confident and not overly second-guessing your answers is an important part of getting the best score possible. Not getting NMSQT is not the end of the world; I don’t think colleges will count it against you, and you probably will get it anyway since you would’ve made it last year and you’ve been practicing and you’ve learned more stuff. Make sure you’re confident (though not confident enough to let time go by without chekcing answers!) and in a good mind frame during the PSAT. I had kind of an attitude of excitement about it, which is weird but it got me a 226.</p>
<p>In case it matters, I’m using Barron’s (which doesn’t scale) for practice tests, so my scores are based off of online Raw → Scaled score charts.</p>
<p>I doubt this would matter, but I would be a lot more confident if it did. :P</p>
<p>Yippideedoo. I just tried a regular practice test (from CollegeBoard), and I got a 229 (CR: 69, M: 80, W: 80). :D</p>
<p>Gotta go work on that critical reading…</p>