Should I stress about the PSAT?

<p>Is the PSAT a high school sophomore should be stressing about or not?</p>

<p>Not if you’re a sophomore (like me! :)) It will give you a base to work up from; however, it doesn’t hurt to study.</p>

<p>BTW, it might have been better if you posted this in the SAT preparation forum</p>

<p>Nope, save that for Junior year (though don’t get too stressed then, either).</p>

<p>Sophomore year PSAT doesn’t count towards National Merit, so don’t worry about it. Take it as a practice test to see what you have to work for to achieve a good score in your junior year.</p>

<p>As a sophomore, unless you are planning to apply to a private high school or highly selective program for your junior year, the PSAT is nothing more than a practice test. Although you will get official looking score results, they are not going to be useful for anything at all other than to help you improve your test taking ability. They will not be in any permanent record and they won’t be requested by or sent to any college. Most high schools don’t use them for anything important. So, just relax and do your best knowing that the results, whatever they may be, really don’t matter.</p>

<p>No, not at all. My PSAT score went up 30/300 points between sophomore and junior year without any studying, so it doesn’t necessarily mean anything.</p>