<p>Not sure if this is the right place to post. i figured kids took PSAT junior year but i just read in the local paper that the school district is cutting funding for paying 9th graders to take the PSAT. </p>
<p>Now i am wondering if taking the test as a 9th grader is common/recommended and what your experience is
thanks!</p>
<p>Students can take it prior to junior year for practice, but junior year is the “real deal”, i.e. the one that counts for National Merit.</p>
<p>My school takes it in 10th grade for practice.
I like this idea, since it gives us an idea of the kind of stuff that’s on the SAT with absolutely no pressure.</p>
<p>9th grade could be a bit early though…it’ll make them worry about standardized tests too soon.</p>
<p>My son (just finished 10th grade) took the PSAT in 9th grade; I had to pay for it. ($9, IIRC.) The school pays for all juniors to take the PSAT, and this past school year, also paid for all 10th graders to take it, so S took the PSAT again in 10th grade.</p>
<p>Ended up a good thing that he took it this past year, as he is going to start college in the fall, so will not take the PSAT at a HS junior. I had his sophomore PSAT score activated for the National Merit competition; he is likely to be named a SF this fall. (woo-hoo!!!)</p>
<p>at our school, 9th graders can take it for free, but if they want a score report, they have to pay 11$</p>
<p>In our sch. system all students in 9-11th grades take the PSAT at no cost (to the student).</p>
<p>Just this past year our state paid for all 10th graders to take the PSAT and they all had to take it. 11th graders paid on their own.</p>
<p>Even if they didn’t pay, I’d have my child take it in soph year to see how they did and where they need improvement (prep for the PSAT and SAT are very similar). While NM is not a huge thing for selective colleges, it does open up some possibilities for financial safeties.</p>
<p>In our school district, 9th and 10th graders take it for practice and 11th graders take it for real.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it’s silly for 9th graders who have not completed geometry to take the test. They don’t have enough math background yet, and they may be inordinately worried about their low math scores.</p>
<p>congrats, owlice!! NMSF is great!!
My kids’ schoold had them take the PSAT for practice in both 9th and 10th gr. I think they track and trend the kids scores as well as it being good practice so the kids are desensitized to (ie not as anxious about) the testing process when it really matters. I dont think its the end of the world if the school drops it in 9th gr, but if the issue was only paying $9, I’d pay it. My s gets $2k/yr from his college for his NMS, so it does pay off in the long run. I’d consider it a good investment 
Older s’s college only paid $750/yr for his NM, but it was better than nothing.</p>
<p>We’ve had the same funding issue in our school district. They instituted all 9th-11th graders taking the PSAT (only several years ago, I think), but just dropped the 9th graders this past year. Free to all 10th and 11th graders, which seems just fine and dandy to me.</p>
<p>PArt of the difference is that I think some posters are talking about public school funding. Ours was private school, so we were paying for it either way!</p>
<p>My S took it in 9th, 10th, & 11th grades. At my kids’ school, a public that has more than 50% on free and reduced lunch, we paid for the test and everything else. As well, during 10th grade it was administered during the fall break and he gave up a morning of vacation to take it. Best time and money (around $30 overall) ever spent - he achieved NMF and his college sponsors their finalists for $5000 per year. In 9th grade he scored quite high in math and only so-so in verbal. It served as a wake up call for him to work on that component a bit and he saw a big jump by the time it counted.</p>
<p>thanks… iwasn’t begrudging the small amount of money it cost…it was just a wake up call to me that students took it at all in 9thg grade. my son will take precalc in 9th grade so it will be interesting to see his score and perhaps even motivate him and expose unknown weaknesses early on. thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>Agreed, 2VU (and congrats on Vandy!), that the test helps reveal what areas might need tweaking. The scores do jump notably from year to year, but can help you know if your kids are on track for possibly making NM, which helped us decide to have younger s do some prepping for the 11th gr PSAT. He prepped ,and decided to take the SAT in Nov of 11th gr, since he’d prepped for the PSAT. Turned out to be a good decision all the way around. He did well on both the PSAT and SAT,so never had to take the SAT again after fall of his jr yr. I would never have initially considered that as an option, but it paid off.</p>
<p>owlice, what was the process to activate the sophomore psat score? congrats on the nmsf. </p>
<p>my oldest d was nmf…she took the test sophomore and junior years. i think that i paid the test fee for both years. ds will be taking it for the first time this school year as a sophomore. i think it’s good practice for them to take it the sophomore year.</p>
<p>i have heard that the test is more difficult now than what it once was. does anyone know why? does it have anything to do with changes in verbal? there have been fewer nmf’s at our local high school since the changes.</p>
<p>jym, thanks! I won’t know for certain whether S made NMSF, but if the score in my state doesn’t jump up 4 or more points from last year, he’s good! Should know in late August or early September.</p>
<p>condor, I had to write a letter to the NMS folks letting them know that my son was accelerating to attend college. I had to provide his name, school, school number, date he took the PSAT… hmmm… don’t recall if I had to provide his birthdate; maybe. And then ask that his score be activated for the NM competition.</p>
<p>Regarding whether the test is now harder, my son’s score went DOWN eight points between his freshman and sophomore tests. It’ll be interesting to see whether the qualifying scores for NMSF go down this fall, as I saw lots of complaints from students about how hard last fall’s PSAT was.</p>
<p>thanks owlice. please let us know if the qualifying scores go down.</p>
<p>condor, there will be a lot of activity over on the SAT/ACT forums when students start getting notified about NMSF, believe me!! Kids will post what their qualifying scores were, someone will consolidate the information and compare each reported score by state with the previous year’s scores, and so on. The NM people don’t release a list of what the qualifying scores are; the kids here create the list themselves, with input from students and parents. </p>
<p>One of the coolest things about the internet, this kind of cooperation to benefit all!</p>
<p>ETA:</p>
<p>Heh! The thread has already been started: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/696125-psat-scores-national-merit-semifinalists-2009-h-s-class-2010-a.html?highlight=PSAT[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/696125-psat-scores-national-merit-semifinalists-2009-h-s-class-2010-a.html?highlight=PSAT</a></p>
<p>Won’t know the qualifying scores for last year’s PSAT until sometime this fall, though.</p>
<p>thanks owlice…
want to mention that merit aid offers to nmsf and nmf’s usually come in the fall before students are actually named nmsf/nmf in the spring. so be sure that your s starts now contacting schools of interest and providing his psat score…have him ask what scholarship opportunities are available to nmsf’s and nmf’s. he can contact admissions offices and honors departments. doing the legwork in the fall will make everything easier in the spring. some schools may require he actually make application and be accepted before they extend the offer. d had at least one like that. he can also submit applications for additional scholarships at the particular schools and those may have fall deadlines…so be tracking those. some schools will allow stacking of scholarships and some will not…so be sure you track that as well. good luck !</p>
<p>i visited the thread you linked and there was a post that perhaps math was more difficult than in previous year. i’ll try to keep up with the thread as i’m curious about the changes.</p>
<p>condor, thanks! S is already accepted to college and will start next month. (ACK!!! Next month!!!) No money for NMSF/NMF there, but still, the recognition is nice!</p>
<p>NMSFs are named in the fall; NMFs are named in the spring. I’ve got my fingers crossed (which makes it hard to type… )!</p>