Do we know if the NMF cut offs are determined by whatever the top1% of scores are in a given state? So, if the top 1% of kids did worse this time, would the cut off be lower than last year?
D also said it was harder than last weekās SAT.
The way scores are posted are by state. Last year, the date you get your scores depends on the state youāre in when you check your scores. Note that itās not at all related to the state in which you took the test, just the state you check your scores. Last year, I was able to check the scores on the first day by using VPN to access an East Coast computer to check the scores.
@homerdog Cutoffs are determined on a state by state basis that depends on the year. If your state did worse this year, the cutoff will be lower.
I donāt know why it takes so long to return the tests. Both ACT and SAT say that test scores will be released within three weeks. So why 6.5 weeks for the PSAT.
My son17 didnāt do too much prep for his sophomore and jr year past, and he got pretty average scores. When he took the SAT he said it was definitely easier than the PSAT, an he scored much higher, I think close to a 1400 on his first attempt. Then he took the ACT and he liked that a lot better, and so he focused on that.
So donāt be too worried if your kids get a so so score on the PSAT, in the end I donāt think it matters much at all. I think itās a decent benchmark type of tool, to see if there are some things the kids can prep for so they do better on the real test.
Thanks @gusmahler I get it now. Itās more of a crap shoot than I even thought it was! First, the test seemed harder than the SAT (weird), S19 took the test is a not-so-quiet fieldhouse, and his making NMF has to do with how he did compared to other kids in the state (which he obviously cannot control). Iām sort of glad he didnāt spend a lot of time studying for it. Heās got a lot of tests tomorrow and Friday for the end of the quarter. Better that he used his time to prep for those.
Yeah thatās why Iām not trying to get d to try to study at all for Saturdayās exam. No point in stressing her out when there are so many unknowns anyway.
S19 had PSAT today, but he hasnāt reported back yet. His chances of hitting any of the cutoffs are slim. Oddly enough he is a better student than his sister (now in college), but she had a bizarre (and lucky) ability to do well on these types of tests, Being a voracious reader helped, but she reported that she could simply relax her mind and āfeelā or āsenseā the correct answer. S despite stronger grades and a generally more disciplined approach to school, does not have this knack. He studied diligently for the PSAT (unlike his sister!), but 90-95% would be a very good score for him.
If you look around the test boards, you see people panicking over specific questions: ā:what did you get on the last math question? Did you answer a lot of Cs?ā
I always hated that. When I was in college, thatās exactly why I avoided talking to anyone about the exams: They are all asking details about the exam and I donāt remember what I answered. So Iād worry all day about getting an answer wrong when thereās literally nothing I could do about it.I realized that I felt much better if I just went on with my life and forgot about the test until I got the grade back.
D19 is the same way. And I didnāt have to teach her that. If I ask her how she did on a test, she has no specific recollection of the test or even any idea on if she did well or not. So Iāve learned not to ask her.
Thatās not going to stop me from asking today, though.
PSAT timing: Itās offered on the Saturday seating here; last year they did the in-week seating, and there was much complaining all around. 9th- and 10th-graders can only take it on a space-available basis. (Spoiler: Thereās space.) There are accommodations available here for those with religious objections to Saturday testing, but I donāt know precisely when those offerings are.
Expected PSAT scores: My D19 did better than expected (~1200) on her practice test this past weekend, though not nearly enough to get scholarship consideration. Weāre just treating it as cheap SAT practice, really. (The Alaska cutoff varies widely year to year due to our small student population, but even in a down year she wouldnāt come close.)
Costs for tests: The PSAT is $20 for anyone who takes it regardless of grade. AP tests last year were, if I recall correctly, $93. The school district pays for one springtime ACT seating for every junior, since state educational regulations require every student to take a nationally normed test to graduate (but with no requirement for how well they score, which is interesting), but any other ACT or SAT seating is paid by the studentās family.
I was a crappy student but a great SAT-taker, many years ago when we were chipping our answers into stone blocks. My kid is the opposite, very good grades but just average at tests. I got into a college that was well above my academic weight range on the strength of great essays and a very good interview and hook.
Just from reading about the tests, I sometimes wonder whether the College Board started off the redesigned SAT and PSAT too easy and has been slowly ratcheting up the difficulty ever since.
. S19, before the test began was being a bit āloudā, so they moved him to a quiet location in the media center to take it. Turns out that without ANY distractions he feels he did rather well. We shall see , our predicted cutoff is around 220. If you live in North Dakota, its 211.
Sigh, there are some days having a kid on the spectrum is just so hard, but hopefully this time it turned out ok. They could have removed him and had him not take the test, or disqualified him.
Our state cutoff last year was 217. I doubt we even come close to that, but DS19 said he felt like it was good practice for the SAT that he takes on Nov 4th. He said that he used the strategies he learned in his SAT prep class. Weāll see how helpful it is.
I think these tests can be tricky for high ability kids who are looking for tricks. It can be important to remember to go with the obvious answer and some kids are really over analyzing.
@sdl0625 Iām glad your son was able to take the test and it worked out well
On another note , I seem to remember several students who may be interested in CS or Data Science. I thought this may be a helpful resource. I may be slightly biased towards #5.
http://www.bestcomputerscienceschools.net/best-big-data-degrees/
S19, too, thought todayās PSAT was very hard and harder than last Saturdayās SAT.
If I remember from S17, CB gave two different versions of PSAT with different curve.
CB takes loooong to release PSAT scores because they have to curve it, run stats, analyze the data, and work it out so that top 1% or 50K students (or whatever) can be chosen based on the stats.
I had spent way too much time on 2017 PSAT/NM score-cutoff- threads and did data analysis with crowd sourced data there. I may browse the thread but may not spend much time.
S19, too, pretty much needs a perfect score for NM qualification.
Last year the twins had scores putting them well above the SI for our state (but both indicate that the test was much more straight forward last year). If they donāt make the cut this year, either they had a really bad day todayā¦or what does that say about these tests.
I know, jumping the gun. Letās see what springs forth in December.
Thanks for that link @carolinamom2boys. S19 has no admitted academic interests or career goals at this point, but data science seems like a possibility for him. Glad to see two in-state options near the top of the list!
On the PSAT front, I thought S19 would probably hit the commended score, but now I wonder if heāll repeat his sisterās feat of scoring lower in 11th grade than 10th.
My DD16 scored lower as a junior than as a sophomore, too, @eh1234. To be fair, she was really sick when she took the test as a junior. DS19 takes the test on Saturday.