<p>^ Well done. We had a 240 at our school. My score of 217 was deemed only mediocre amongst the top percentage of test takers.</p>
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Maybe after sophomore year. Soon as SAT results start coming in junior year, the PSAT is largely forgotten.</p>
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<p>This is true.</p>
<p>Nearly everyone at my school did worse on the March SAT compared to PSAT results, or what they would predict at least.</p>
<p>My school had 4 240’s and only one of them scored a 2400.</p>
<p>^Still very impressive</p>
<p>P.S. were you the 2400? :)</p>
<p>^ He did receive 2400, but I don’t know his PSAT score.</p>
<p>^haha yeah i recall reading it in one other post somewhere, and I’m commiting the dangerous sin of “assuming” (as my geometry teacher had told us) by thinking he had the 240 PSAT lol</p>
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No, 229 on the PSAT but I went in cold.</p>
<p>227 PSAT, 2320 SAT. You are right on.</p>
<p>S2 had 231 as a sophomore (very little prep, 2 dumb math mistakes, 1 reading question he couldn’t quite see what they were after). For those of you who took PSAT twice, did you see much difference in junior year? S1: 201 as a sophomore; 212 as junior, and 2250 SAT;</p>
<p>^ I had a 14 point increase in PSAT score from Sophomore to Junior year and I did zero preparation for both tests.</p>
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Still very impressive</p>
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<p>I did much better on my SAT though :)</p>
<p>I have a strategy question for Silverturtle and the rest of you high-scoring folks. My son is required to take the PSAT this fall as a school requirement. He just took the ACT in June and scored a perfect 36 composite, so there’s little point in him taking the actual SAT. Is there any benefit for him to actually sit down and prep for the PSAT or could he just take the test cold and score high enough to qualify for possible merit scholarship money? I know there are differences between the two tests and practice would help if he were to try for a perfect PSAT score; on the other hand, he’s never scored below the 99th percentile on a standardized test in his life. Is a 220+ high enough or is there some advantage in trying to get as close to 240 as possible?</p>
<p>@LoremIpsum</p>
<p>As long as he scores above the NMSF cutoff for his state, it doesn’t make a difference whether he scores a 225 or a 235. But from what you’ve told us of your son, I wouldn’t worry. He could cure cancer while taking the PSAT, and still score a 240. On a semirelated note, your son sounds like the kind of person who might want to try the SAT. Some high scorers like to take both, even if the got a perfect score on one.</p>
<p>^ He’ll have to take the SAT to become an NMF anyway.</p>
<p>@LoremIpsum,</p>
<p>PioneerJones is right about there not being an advantage once you hit the cutoff. However, I strongly recommend studying at least a bit anyways. The students in my school (besides me) who scored 36 on the ACT could not break 2200 on the SAT; the tests, though similar, are still quite different.</p>
<p>Thanks, Superturtle. Which areas do you recommend that my son focus on for the PSAT? And what sort of school do you attend that has at least three ACT 36ers? An elite private school for the exceptionally gifted?</p>
<p>My son’s situation is complicated by the fact that he is graduating at the end of his 3rd year of high school. Thus, he will have applied to his colleges long before the issue of becoming a Nation Merit Finalist comes into play. I’d like him to keep his scholarship options open, especially in light of the fact that he is required to take the PSAT anyway. However, I’m not sure if pursing the NMF designation will be worth the effort unless he is granted a gap year before starting college or the NMF scholarship money can apply to his second year. Your advice?</p>
<p>He should take practice tests to get used to the wording and the pacing of the section. Don’t worry about studying content, just get familiarity with the test. Some SAT questions are just plain tricky, but they use the same tricks repeatedly.</p>
<p>I think your son should sit for both the SAT and the PSAT in the fall. Having a high SAT to corroborate the ACT would be very reassuring to ad coms, particularly for a student with a non-traditional educational path up to that point.</p>