DS is a sophomore and took the August 2018 SAT and scored 1550, including an 800 in math. (He needed to take the SAT for an upcoming application, otherwise he would have waited til junior year to take it.) While the score is great, he scored 1590 on 3 of the old SAT tests that he took that Khan Academy offers, so he feels he can do better on the reading/grammar but understands that time is better spent on other things. He hopes to do well on the PSAT next year and I understand if he gets NMSF then he must take the SAT to confirm his score for NMF and from what I have seen on CC, the NMF scores came out recently.
Which dates are you allowed to take the SAT and use to confirm your PSAT for NMF purposes? Ideally he could take the August SAT in his senior year…going on the assumption that he will need to take the SAT for NMF purposes. Can an SAT taken before you received notification that you are NMSF be used to confirm your PSAT for NMF purposes?
Sorry if we are completely confused on how the NMF process works but hoping someone can advise.
He can just send his prior SAT score to the NMSQT organization to certify his PSAT. No need to retake. They are just verifying it wasn’t a single lucky shot
His Junior year PSAT is the one that is used for NMF. So he has to take it again junior year to ‘count’ for NMF.
If you look at this, for students named as semi-finalists in Fall of 2018, they have to have taken/take the SAT between October 2016 and December 2018.
OK thanks, so he would not have to retake the SAT as the old one will work.
I was under the impression once you were named NMSF you had to then take the SAT again as an old score would not work but instead it is a very old score does not work. He will probably leave it alone then as hopefully a 1550 should be fine for any college if the rest of his app is good.
@yearstogo You are all good. S19 is NMSF and I just sent his SAT score from August of his junior year as confirmation. Make sure he reviews again before the PSAT. Our S took that Aug SAT, got a 1540, and then didn’t do any prep before the Oct PSAT. He ended up with three wrong questions on the math section which is nuts because he got an 800 on the SAT eight weeks prior. I think he assumed the PSAT would be a much easier test and he didn’t do a quick review beforehand. The test isn’t easier, in fact he found the math a little trickier. At least on his PSAT, there were more stats questions and he hasn’t taken a stats class. He barely squeaked by with a 221. Whew.
@yearstogo My student took the ACT in September of his junior year. He later commented that it was really good practice/prep for the October PSAT. Good luck to your son. It sounds like he’s more than capable of obtaining National Merit status!
@homerdog thanks for the info. DS is taking AP Stats this year so hopefully he will be good for those questions. I will definitely have him do a little prep for the PSAT next year. Best of luck to your son!!
To follow up on what acapla said, the SAT score will need to be between a certain date range, maybe 18 months?, centered on when you take the PSAT your junior year.
Most kids now take the SAT their junior year (not senior) to get in early college applications. SAT options just before and after the PSAT can be good to consolidate studying. But with my oldest I had no idea that taking the SAT had moved to the junior year and he took it June of his junior year.
@yearstogo – @TexasMomE has it exactly correct; everyone else is giving you bad advice. Unfortunately your DS has jumped the gun by just a little bit for NM purposes. His date range for valid confirming SAT scores, based on him being a sophomore (Class of 2021) will be October 2018 through December 2020. The good news is he is highly likely to do even better if he waits until spring of his junior year,although he really doesn’t have much room for improvement! The bad news is that if want to pursue NM, he’s going to have to take it again (or take the ACT).
The bad news is that if want to pursue NM, he’s going to have to take it again (or take the ACT).