My older kids, who took PSAT under the prior scoring system had substantial gains (197 -> 217, 199 -> 221 – both made NMSF with their junior year scores) between sophomore and Junior years. My youngest scored 217 on the PSAT sophomore year (in VT, we currently know the cutoff is <= 218, so he would have either made NMSF or just missed if he’d been a junior last year). Is it reasonable to expect a similar gain for him, putting him very comfortably in NMSF territory this year, or is the compressed score range showing much lower increases between sophomore and junior year (particularly for kids starting already pretty close to the cutoffs)? For those who took PSAT in 2015 and 2016, what kinds of score increases did you see?
Old PSAT freshman year: 201 (1 pt under commended cutoff so probably 208-210ish converted)
New PSAT sophomore year: 1460/221
Junior year: 1500/226
Thanks @snowfairy137. How much prep did you do for each of those?
@mathmonvt I think I looked through the PSAT guide book and did a few practice problems, may be a practice test the night before freshman year. Sophomore year I did some sporadic Khan Academy prep, and junior year I did more Khan Academy prep and practice tests on khan.
D18 went from a 209 to 223 between 10th and 11th grade on the new PSAT. If your S is already at 217 int 10th grade I imagine making 220+ will be fairly easy. Note: you get the bang for your SI buck on the EBRW section, so I’d have him focus there in the PSAT prep.
Thanks for your thoughts @droppedit. He had almost maxed out the Math section (750 / 37.5) so really his only hope of gain is in the Reading and writing sections (710 / 35, 36). Though I suspect that he’ll need to review the math to avoid dropping there – once they get into higher-level math, I’ve seen math scores go down because they may not be using all of the basics that get tested on the standardized tests as regularly.
My student scored “fine” sophomore year, which was the first year of the new test. He scored below the commended range. But close to it.
Last year as a junior, he scored a 1480, which translated into a 223 SI.
I think the big difference for him was having a full year of Algebra 2 under his belt. He didn’t study for the PSAT, but was studying for the ACT at the time, so perhaps that helped as well!
DS18 improved 1430/215 to 1440/219 between sophomore and junior year.
I went from a 1360/206 to a 1490/221. (Side note: Wow, I forgot how much of a leap I made). I learned about NMF scholarships in September of my junior year and kicked my butt in gear studying. I used Khan Academy and Barron’s PSAT books. It was really close though, I barely made the 221 TX cutoff. What a relief!!
I bet your child can easily jump up two points if they study. They’ll probably make it just by paying attention in math or English class.
Edit: Also, while improving on your weaknesses is important, improving your strength is also worth it. If you find that you learn math way easier than reading, or maybe writing is your forte, try maxing out those skills so you can aim for a near perfect score. TL;DR: don’t ignore one subject. For the record, I only missed one question on the math section.
If your family is concerned about National Merit Scholarships scores that is only given one time prior to finishing 10th grade, you might be comforted knowing that my child had the flu during PSAT testing and didn’t qualify for a National Merit Scholarship . He did earn a 1590 SAT score during 11th grade and is now attending Princeton as a future 2021 graduate. The National Merit Scholarships tested kids are under great pressure to succeed even if they might be sick and they are just sophomores after all. The real SAT scores, that matter, happens after they have learned more.
The scores that matter are in 11th grade, not 10th and if they miss testing because of an illness there are other ways to qualify, but require jumping through quite a few hoops
@CTScoutmom My child didn’t miss testing in 10th grade. He wasn’t able to score at the best of his abilities because of illness. This became irrelevant after his almost perfect score prior to his senior year. The most frustrating thing was that they are only tested once for National Merit Scholarships. My Child might have felt inadequate , temporarily, compared to his classmates until his actual SAT score superseded his PSAT score and his classmates scores. Remember parents, PSAT really means nothing, unless the small monetary benefit is super important in the grand scheme of things. Help your kids understand that studying is the key and if they are sick for the first attempt at their SAT take the test again.
@1Tiger21 I think you might be confused, Princeton does not give merit scholarships, what your son has is NEED based or you are wealthy enough to pay out of pocket, or have loans. National Merit is a HUGE deal for those of us that make too much money for FA and too little to actually afford college.
Where do you get the idea that National Merit is only a “small monetary benefit?” My DD is currently on a National Merit Scholarship at OU that’s valued at $128,000 and my son will be likely be accepting the National Merit Scholarship at UT Dallas valued at $101,000 maybe you think $229K between two kids so far, the 3rd is also likely NM, is insignificant but for my kids it means the difference of commuting from home and going to UT and having loans or going away to schools that they want to go and without debt!
As @CTScoutmom has pointed out the 10th grade PSAT don’t count for National Merit, only 11th grade scores count. If you are ill or have other extenuating circumstances you can do “alternate entry.” For what it’s worth my son took the SAT the same month as his PSAT for National merit and scored 1590 in a single sitting but just barely made the cut off in our state for National Merit. If he had missed it he would have been disappointed but he it would never of affected his “self esteem” he would have just moved on to plan “B”
Too late to edit but just wanted to add that my DD was awarded over $15K in private outside merit based scholarships. Each of these competitive scholarships had a section on their application to list awards earned and I do believe being able to list National Merit Semifinalist helped her earn those additional scholarships.
I went from a 1250 sophomore year on the PSAT to a 1450 junior year. I took Algebra II/Trig as a sophomore but didn’t have enough knowledge to do well on the math section in October of that year… IIRC, I went from a 580 to a 730(/760) I didn’t prep at all for the PSAT because I knew I was going with the ACT regardless. I did score better on my actual SAT than the PSAT (1490), but much higher on the ACT than any of the CB tests (35).
My son was in Algebra II/Trig freshman year, sophomore year he had precalc, but not until second semester, so he wasn’t in math at all in October. Now he’s in Calc AB, but I bet he’s forgotten more of the Alg II stuff. So he probably does need to review for the math. He’s scheduled to take the SAT on Oct 7 and the PSAT on the 14th.
I didn’t prep at all for sophomore year PSAT (2015), got 1340 (index 206). 720 english 620 math. For some reason I struggled on the math section even though math has been my strongest subject in all of my later tests. I think it was because I got stuck on a few questions and didn’t complete the entire section.
I prepped a little bit for the Junior year PSAT (2016) using Khan Academy and a study book. I got 1480 (index 221), math 750 english 730, and am now SF applying to be finalist. This improvement came from better time management for math (seemed extremely easy compared to sophomore year) and some basic english review. I honestly think Khan Academy did more to help than the book I had, but it might differ from person to person.
Thanks @ams355 – my son seems most interested in Khan Academy as well.
Khan Academy was the only prep my NMSF kid did.