Crystal Ballers? Predict SAT scores for student with PSAT 1500 as Sophomore.
Very high. I’m not sure what else you need to know.
The ACT PLAN will give you a range a student may achieve on the ACT and it is pretty accurate. Check and see is if the PSAT does that. But really with a sophomore score of 1500 chances are the junior SAT will be a little higher to super good. Agree, what else do you need to know at this point? The standardized test score should be one piece it doesn’t sound like there is much to be worried about.
Did student prepare or took it cold?
Student took it cold. After looking at PLAN and ACT formulas, I was wondering if there is a formula out there to predict SAT using PSAT scores.
My understanding has always been that PSAT is a fairly good predictor of SAT scores. If the student took them cold and spent some time studying, I would expect SAT to be a little higher due to studying and familiarity.
My oldest never did quite as well on the SAT as the PSAT. He got a perfect score on Writing on the PSAT, but not on the SAT. His PSAT score was good enough for NMF in NYS. (It was the first year they had writing on the SAT so it didn’t count.) His sophomore year and junior year PSAT scores were very similar and if you looked at the percentile for those scores he was in the same range on the SAT itself. (i.e. if a sophomore PSAT score is in the top 98% for sophomores taking the test it’s likely that the SAT score will also be in the top 98%.) My younger son had a big jump in scores from sophomore to junior year. (His junior year score was good enough to be commended, his sophomore year one was not.) Like his brother his final SAT score was in the same percentile range as the PSAT score had been.
Years ago on CC there was a thread of students who posted their PSAT scores compared to their SAT scores - you could probably google it. It might have been this one: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/1715246-what-were-your-psat-sat-scores-as-a-sophomore.html Obviously this was old PSAT scoring, but I imagine you’d get similar results today.
The college board says that the new PSAT scores are meant to be directly predictive of SAT scores, such that a student taking both tests would get the same score. So your son’s official predicted SAT score is 1500.
This, of course, is ridiculously stupid, because the tests aren’t on the same scale anymore.
There is really no way to precisely predict scores. They are not nearly as reproducible as the college board would like us to think. If you look at posts from kids on here who retake the SAT, you see scores bouncing up and down quite a bit.
The college board used to post a study on this. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find it again in the past year or two, and I think they have quietly removed it from their site because it doesn’t reflect well on the reproducibility of their tests. There was a chart showing each initial SAT score and then the distribution of scores received by the students upon retaking the test. There were definitely students who improved, as one might expect, given that students who retake are by definition older and have at least the experience of the first test, and most likely some additional studying. But the spread of scores upon retake was very wide. I guess this is not that surprising since a lot of students who take the SAT aren’t able to finish it. The outcome for students near 800 was that most (about 80 percent if I recall) of their scores went down.
I think it is rare to see scores go down significantly but conversely it is rare to see huge jumps unless the kid was sick or was screwing around during the PLAN or PSAT.
ours correlated pretty closely to the NEW sat.
my understanding is that the PSAT/New SAT is more a barometer of achievement, and the Old Sat was more of a logic/intelligence type test.
but none of that really matters in the scheme of things.
Don’t be too complacent. My daughter’s PSAT score dropped her junior year, though she still made NMF. It was just a nasty surprise! Whatever you do, look over the practice tests!
The SAT will likely be high enough to make your child competitive for any college in the USA. And, if he/she has a bad test day, there will be time to take the SAT twice. With the possible exception of an SAT Subject Test in May or June, I would stop the worry hurry about college and test scores for this school year, unless your child plans to graduate HS a year early.
With tons of homework for AP courses and extracurriculars in full swing, he has no waking hour left to practice PSAT and we don’t want him to sacrifice sleep or health.
Your son can probably practice a little next summer/fall, before the PSAT that actually counts. My son’s PSAT also went down between 10th & 11th grade, which totally surprised him and us. Especially because he had not practiced for the one in 10th grade. But, then his scores went back up for the real SAT, after some practice. I do recommend practice tests before the real PSAT, just because of the national award and scholarship money that can be involved.
This question is for a current junior.
Sorry…Just have him do a few PSAT practice tests then before the test date. Carve out a few hours.
it will be higher because he will know lot more when he takes the SAT .
relax…
Keep in mind that the test score ins only one facet of the person presented to colleges. Please do not obsess about getting the highest scores your child can get. There will be students with better scores, including perfect ones, that will not get accepted to some schools. There are far too many elite students to go to the elite schools - supply/spaces issue. Big deal if a perfect score is had- won’t mean automatic awards, scholarships, acceptances.
Spend your time thinking/doing other things. As above- RELAX, and enjoy your child.