<p>What is the use of preparing for the PSAT/NMSQT junior year if you know you probably aren't going to make it pass the cut-off?</p>
<p>I got a 170 Sophomore year and I'm wondering if I have a chance at anything. Do you get scholarships and grants from other people based on this award? Do colleges look at your PSAT and recruit people, etc.?? Should I even study for this? Why or why not?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Well, there are a few purposes of preparing for the PSAT:</p>
<ol>
<li>To qualify for the National Merit Scholarships.</li>
<li>To practice for the SAT.</li>
<li>To see what to work on when you study for the real thing.</li>
</ol>
<p>It's good to study for this, because you can qualify for the Merit Scholarships and so that you can pinpoint what you should review later for the real SAT. </p>
<p>Lots of colleges will send you letters after you take the PSAT. They'll all say something like, "We at Hoolala University commend you for your outstanding performance on the PSAT. While we don't believe test scores are everything, we believe that you may be a good match for Hoolala. We at Hoolala pride ourselves in our intellectual atmosphere..." Crap like that.</p>
<p>I must say, it's sort of nice getting lots of mail. I like getting mail.</p>
<p>So study. You might not want to study until your eyes bleed, but it's good to study for these things.</p>
<p>Do you think I have a chance at the NM scholarships though? Isn't the cutoff like at around 210?</p>
<p>The only reason in my opinion for the PSAT is to get a nice "National Merit Commended/Semifinalist" award. Because of that award, colleges thus theoretically know where your PSAT scores lie, and so can determine accordingly how much you improved to your SAT.</p>
<p>Well, I guess anyone has a chance at the NM scholarships. The cutoff depends on how people do, and it varies from state to state. The cutoff is usually somewhere in the 210's. But I don't think that's enough to be a finalist.</p>
<p>PSAT is useless... its just for the title of being a national merit finalist... the merit money is like only 3,000 dollars....i think alot of colleges don't really accept it ( top colleges ).</p>