<p>My child is worried (and we are too) because she just got back some lousy PSAT scores from a 10th grade testing. We had all expected that she'd do quite well - even figuring she had a good shot at National Merit Scholar next year. We based that assumption on her excellent scores (top 5% among talent search participants) on the SAT in 7th grade and her scores in the top 4% on the private high school admissions test, the SSAT.</p>
<p>However, on the PSAT she got: 58 Critical Reading, 55 Math and 64 Writing Skills. Her Selection Index was 177, which was the 84th percentile. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any idea what might be happening here? She is in a rigorous private school where she seems to be learning a lot and doing well. Among this bright group of kids she's not at the top, but she's holding her own with an A- average so far. The one idea I had was that she isn't reading as much in her free time as she used to so maybe that accounts for the decline? </p>
<p>Any recommendations? We weren't really shooting for Ivies anyway, although she is a legacy at one, but rather prefer the top 20 LACs for her. Now those seem a stretch. </p>
<p>You need to look at the test report booklet, which will show both the questions and the right answers. If your D got the easy Qs wrong, she needs practice, if she got the hard Qs wrong, well, she has another year to learn that material!</p>
<p>My son also got a 177 -- so we took him out for pizza to celebrate. It's not a "lousy" score by any means -- 84% of college bound juniors? :-)</p>
<p>But I can see how she would be disappointed, given her past success. Maybe she just had a lousy day. How were the test conditions? I certainly wouldn't panic, though. Some self-study with the Kaplan PSAT book might be all she needs. Her score will undoubtedly improve next year anyway, and with some study and her history I bet it goes up quite a bit. </p>
<p>Maybe take some practice tests out of some review books, under simulated test conditions. She would probably do just fine on those, which could give her back her confidence, or at least pinpoint any lingering problem areas.</p>
<p>Don't worry at all. just like dmd77 said, she has a whole year to learn the material. In 10th grade I got about the same scores as your D did: 178 on my PSATs. I studied a tiny bit during summer, and 2 weeks before the PSATs I did a few practice tests to familiarize myself with it. I ended up getting a 216 this year on the PSAT and a pretty good score on the SATs.</p>
<p>If you daughter is really determined, i recommend doing a bunch of practice SATs/PSAT tests. They really help! And make sure to read the tips that they give out. Use all different types of practice books, dont just stick with one (i.e. the Princeton Review). I didn't take a course, but it's different for everyone.</p>
<p>My daughter had similar PSAT scores as a junior this year. We were very proud of her. Those are fine scores. The reality is that the SAT score matters. No one will ever even see her PSAT scores.</p>
<p>Don't let her think she did badly! She did quite well, as others have pointed out. My own son picked up 25 points between 10th and 11th grades on the PSAT without worrying about the test at all and missed the cut-off between commended and semi-finalist only because of a simple arithmetic error. Allowing her to think she's in trouble could make her nervous and increase the chances of such things happening.</p>
<p>The problem is that you think these are "lousy" scores for a 10th grader. They are not. Her percentile rank is compared to college juniors and she is only a sophomore. The other two testing results compared her to her students in her grade level, thus the higher percentile ranking.</p>
<p>If she is at a rigorous private school she should have years of test results that compare her on a national basis. What were her previous test scores?</p>
<p>REcommend that she try a summer review course and memorize the 250 SAT words that she doesn't know.</p>
<p>Where is she in math? If she's only just taking geometry this year, she'll do better on math next year. Really, those are good scores for a sophomore. Keep in mind that the national average for SENIORS taking the SAT is around 510 on each section.</p>
<p>My S gained 24 points from sophomore to junior year on the PSAT while doing no prep; his verbal went up the most (had the most room for growth, too). I think reading above grade level books is a good idea to build vocabulary and comprehension ability, but I wouldn't force the issue. And another year of math will boost that part of the score. I wouldn't worry about it... sophomores are sort of scattered, especially in October. There could be a big gain for your D just from another year of maturity. And I agree with the others, 84% is not lousy by any means.</p>
<p>My son took the practice PSAT test that came with the booklet and scored within two points of his final PSAT score. That was high enough to make him a NM Commended. which - in college admissions "points" or scholarship help - is worth ZILCH. And he scored in the top 97-99th percentiles on the sections. Of course I'm proud of him for those scores, but you have to remember that only approximately 1 out of every 1000 students becomes a semi-finalist. That's the top one-tenth of one percent.</p>
<p>It's almost impossible - collegeconfidential student posters to the contrary - to be a semi-finalist/finalist if you are not one of the very top students. We had two in our school, and everyone in the school could have predicted who they would be.</p>
<p>I did what dmd77 recomended and looked at which level questions she had trouble with, and in math she did get all the easy ones right, 83% of the medium ones and none of the hard questions right. It seems clear in reading that most of her incorrect answers were due to vocabulary she didn't know. That sounds like a study/reading opportunity! The first time I took the GRE I got 81% verbal, but after studying vocab for a few months (carrying around flash cards, etc.) I got it up to 99%. We will take lderochi's advice and she will work on vocab. </p>
<p>Did the test really have Algebra II on it? She's taking that now as a 10th grader, so maybe she hasn't gotten to some of the material they tested yet? Does anyone know if it does cover Algebra 2?</p>
<p>I suggested my daughter read your responses and she feels so much better now. She was relieved to hear that Stardash's scores went up so much. </p>
<p>I had kind of expected her to not do as well on the new SAT as the old one. I've read that the new SAT is less of an intelligence test and more a test of school learning. The analogies and the more intuitive math questions are gone, and those were things you could sort of reason through without really knowing. </p>
<p>No anxiety here, just a resolve to work on a few things to do better next tiem!</p>
<p>Actually, I <em>think</em> that Algebra II is not on the PSAT, though it is on the new SAT. The College Board link says "Algebra and Functions (but not 3rd year level math that may appear on the new SAT)". My understanding is that what most people call "Algebra II" is the 3rd year level math tht they're referring to. Alebra I is first year, and Geometry is 2nd year. I'm a little nervous about this for my sophomre S too. He's doing quite well in math, but due to some rocky middle school years, he's currently in a track that's a year behind his peers. He's done well enough in the last few years that he'll be "bumped" back onto track next year, but he still may struggle with the tougher math questions on the PSAT and the Algebra II questions on the SAT.</p>
<p>Well she is only a sophmore. She could of just had a bad day. Do the prep. The experience taking several practice tests in a proctored situation was a great help to my son.</p>
<p>My so's PSAT score went up around 40 points. He did a few practice tests in junior year, none sophomore year. I think a year of school makes a difference.</p>
<p>S has nearly perfect SATs and a great writing score. His PSATs are not so spectacular. He go in the mid 60's for the verbal, mid 50's for the math, and the mid 40's for the writing. He went down slightly when he retook as a junior so no National Merit consideration for him.</p>
<p>Is this the son you are having a few issues with?
If so I'm not surprised there are some issues, as that is how it can be with very bright minds!</p>