PSAT Score/Improvement Questions: Sophmore

Test Preparation
1

<p>PSAT as a Freshman: 183 Composite, 69(Math), 57(Writing Skills), 57(Critical Reading)
PSAT as a Sophmore: 202 Composite, 80(Math), 59(Writing Skills), 63(Critical Reading)</p>

<p>I didn't do any prep work, I didn't do any of the practice tests(I should have). I have two learning disorders(I didn't read the Critical Reading and Writing Skills passages in their entirety and ended with tons of extra time as a result). </p>

<p>In my State my score was higher than it said 96% of Sophmores.
Nationally my score was higher than 98% of Sophmores.
I scored higher than 97% of College bound Juniors.</p>

<p>Am I on the right track for becoming a finalist? Using the state of Tennessee as my competition... Do I have a good shot at it as a junior? What is the cutoff score for National Merit Scholarship Finalists?
What do I do to prepare? How do I raise Writing Skills/Critical Reading? I am reading more(I have more time because my fall sport ended). </p>

<p>I think my Writing Skills did not go up, because our English class is zero writing now... All reading old classics and discussing.</p>

2

<p>Any advice would be great.</p>

3

<p>

</p>

<p>I don’t get this part.</p>

4

<p>I think he means that his learning disabilities do not allow him to concentrate in the writing and CR sections…though if that were the case, the only advice I can give is to improve your concentration with different activities.</p>

5

<p>italianboarder, there was an excellent thread in the parent’s forum. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/556192-psat-review-courses.html?highlight=psat[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/556192-psat-review-courses.html?highlight=psat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Fwiw, I believe the cutoff for TN has been 213 for the last two years. Year to year score improvement may take care of your problem, but following the advice in the thread couldn’t hurt.</p>

6

<p>Any advice helps.</p>

7

<p>First of all I want to stress that National Merit really doesn’t matter that much. It’s nowhere close to as important as you think it is. If you are a finalist, you get a scholarship of around $1,000, that’s about it. The SAT is what matters.</p>

<p>English class really doesn’t help much. Luckily, writing is the easiest section to improve on. You need to be able to read a sentence and decide whether it “sounds” right. Tip: Look for subject-verb agreement. Just hit the SAT books and you’ll do amazingly come junior year.</p>

<p>Great job on math, btw.</p>