Should I worry about my PSAT scores?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I took the PSAT last year as a sophomore and didn’t try—at all. Sort of took it as a joke and was 90% done with it by the time the math section rolled around. Math is also far from my forte.

Didn’t do as badly as I thought, but not stellar, either. I got a 1180—620 in reading/writing and 560 in math. Yeah, I probably should have tried harder (it was the end of the year and I just wanted to go home :’)) but I remember the math section being particularly confusing. To the point where I just rolled my eyes, closed my booklet, and took a nap after doing all the problems I knew by heart.

I’d expect myself to get a 1,200-ish if I really tried. My question is, is it a good score, considering the fact that I put in minimal effort, and should I really stress out over upcoming SAT’s? My schedule’s pretty rigorous as it is and the last thing I need on my plate it solving practice problems on the weekends. Is my score really that bad or am I worrying for no reason?

2

I would take the PSAT again. If your scores aren’t where you want them to be, hit Khan Academy and practice.

3

The PSAT is two things:

  1. National merit. If you are capable of scoring in the top two percent, hitting the national merit score can give you scholarship money.
  2. A marketing database for colleges. They buy lists of students to send junk mail to.

If you can’t win money and don’t need junk mail, the PSAT means almost nothing. Save your energy for ACT and/or SAT prep.

4

Studying for the SAT would be the same as studying for the PSAT…like other say, PSAT is the test that is used for national merit. However, if you think your best would be 1200ish then extensive studying would probably not be worth it but definitely take it seriously as it will also help you figure out what your weak area is for SAT.