<p>Hi, I took the PSAT at the beginning of my sophomore year. I got a 161 selection index and the percentile was 72. I got a 51 in critical reading, a 61 in math, and a 49 in writing skills. I was very disappointed with my scores; I didn't study for it, but still expected to do much better. I will be taking the PSAT again in October, but want to increase my score since this is when I can try to become a national merit. </p>
<p>So does anyone have any suggestions to how I can increase my score greatly? Any books or courses? I would like the price to be kind of low because I want to take SAT prep courses later.</p>
<p>i didn't really study for the PSAT either, but in retrospect i wish i did even though i didn't do all that bad. I would suggest using SATI books to study because they are harder than what the PSAT covers and if you can do relatively well on the SATI questions (try the hard ones towards the end of each section), you should do a lot better.</p>
<p>Collegeboard SATI practice books can probably be had for cheap if you get them semiused off the internet, but youre gonna have to do a hell of a job erasing all the marks xP. And as an added bonus, you can use the book later for the SATs! yay!</p>
<p>Thanks, and I can probably buy the book new. When I said cheap I meant I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars. Also do y'all think it is possible for me to bring up my score enough points to be eligible for national merit? I live in Texas.</p>
<p>dude it is completly possible to raise. believe it or not, the way u think will for sure change. thats wat happened for me. in my sophomore year, i got a 173 and was quite disappoitned being only in the 80th percentile, losing to a bunch of my friends. i did a summer of relaxed SAT prep. come PSAT time i got a 225. this will qualify me for national merit scholar semifinalist and then the rest is cake. u can definitely increase ur score.</p>
<p>i bought barron's PSAT/NMSQT book but i found it to be much to difficult. if u can, ask some of ur old friends for their old PSAT booklets if they have it. the test is identical to the SAT (in the sections it has neways) so use that to ur advantage. i wish u luck!</p>
<p>That makes me feel better. And i felt so stupid when I got my scores because all of my friends got so much higher than me. But if you went from a 173 to 225 I think I can bring mine up much higher also. Thanks and any more suggestions from anyone is appreciated.</p>
<p>I used the Princeton Review and REA with CD-Rom Guides; both helped me raise my score significantly. For studying vocabulary, I memorized all the words in the Barron's "High Frequency PSAT Vocabulary" List (that list alone, in my opinion, made the book worth purchasing). I revisited geometry with Cliffnotes, and I completed both PSAT and SAT practice tests. I went in feeling totally prepared, and I did great. Hopefully following a similar prep plan will help you too. :) Good luck!</p>
<p>Collegebound, I had the same problem. I took the PSAT in my soph year and scored very badly, a lot lower than I thought I would do. I did not prepare for that test. right now I am preparing for the next SAT in october during the summer because I want to be eligible for the national merit too. I have been browsing these forums for suggestions and ways to study. If you find any that are good, please message me.</p>
<p>It'll be relatively easy for you to raise your score to 180 or 190, but then it starts getting tricky. 160's is pretty low; you prolly need to brush up on some fundamental arithmetic or SAT words or grammar...after going through a mini-school on those subjects, do many practice tests (esp. use specialized books, ones just for CR, ones just for math, etc...) But overall, it takes alot of practice until you can consistenly score well...and congrats to aa6590.</p>