<p>My D is considering taking the PSAT ‘cold’ this coming month, as a sophomore, just as practice, to see where to focus studying for next year when it counts. Will the scores from taking it in her sophomore year (presumably lower than what whe will get in her junior year) be reported in some way and possibly count against her somehow in the future?</p>
<p>I hate this question so much. NO, it will not count for anything. A simple google search would have revealed this.</p>
<p>Sorry you hated the question, but it does seem that often the offical answer doesn’t tell the whole story. We just want to make sure that there is no way it would negatively affect her, perhaps in a way we may not have thought of. The CC community seems the perfect place to check that out.</p>
<p>why not get her prepared for it, so when she goes into the test, she doesn’t get mind-blown like every else?</p>
<p>I have never understood why it makes sense to take any standardized test “cold.” If it’s worth spending time and money to take it, it’s worth preparing for.</p>
<p>As far as I can see, the knowledge you can get by taking a standardized test without preparation has absolutely no value. So you know what score you can get without studying. So what?</p>
<p>^ yeah, exactly</p>
<p>Not even knowing what you’re walking into is horrible. No sense of time or directions …</p>
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<p>Your question should not be “hated” as it is very valid. The answer has multiple parts. </p>
<p>The first one is that the PSAT should not play ANY roles in admissions. The unfortunate part is that some clueless admins and GCs have developed the moronic habit to “paste” the PSAT on the back of the transcript, or even worse make it part of it. I have always advised anyone who wants to listen to seek to have that practice stopped, by asking the school and contact The College Board in case they refuse. Remember it IS your information; and not the high school. On this subject, NEVER answer the questions about your HS on the SAT questionaires. Never … ever! That should stop most of the cross-collating of information. What the HS does not know cannot be added. Alas, they do know about the PSAT as the TCB uses the school as proxies. </p>
<p>The second part is about taking the test cold to establish the focus for next year. This is something that is routinely shared by GCs, and again, it reflects how misinformed and misguided those folks really are. </p>
<p>You could approach the next text without jitters, but it really makes more sense to spend a few hours reviewing past exams and make sure to refresh basic math and grammar.</p>
<p>PS Remember that this forum is more “raw” than the more congenial ones such as the Parents’ forum. Well, that is since they banned political discussions, as those discussions were rarely congenial or intelligent. It is now a good place to compare notes and obtain civil replies to your queries. Try it!</p>