I heard that prepping for ACT even without much PSAT prepping really helped many people.
I don’t think any valuable information can be obtained until the College Board releases the State Summary reports(hopefully in February as it has been in years past). I am curious as to how they will report the data this year. Will they report the data on the 3 sections (scale of 38) or the 2 sections (scale of 760)? Can’t wait to find out!
My son is a stem kid and I do think it did help him answer the science questions some, but I was still surprised when he missed some. One the practice he was getting them right. He also do not take AP reading. He takes level 4 and he takes level 3 social studies, but he does take AP Calculus and AP Physics and has taken AP biology. So I was worried he wouldn’t do as well on reading for that reason, but he also does Academic Decathlon and one of the selling points the instructor used for joining was it will boast up your tests scores. He also takes AP Latin though I am not sure if it adds much any more with the new test. My son even though he was taking calculus he still had stuff to brush up on in math because the math they use is stuff he hasn’t used in a while so I could definitely see where test prep does help especially math and writing. Just some ideas for the sophomores out there that want to know how to prep. He also was taken AP statistics not sure if it helped in the math, but you would think that it would of
AP statistics would make the statistics questions fast and easy. Others may have forgotten some of the terminology there, or depending on their school, have never been taught. Not sure about the PSAT, but there is a big data/statistics push on the new SAT.
my S’s only prep for PSAT is doing two practice tests, however he prepped for ACT and took it in September. He got 35C in ACT and 220 in PSAT. He said ACT prep definitely helped.
My daughter had a 37 point increase from sophomore (went in cold - no prep) to this year as a junior. She prepped over the summer for the ACT using the “black” and “red” books. She also prepped by doing the PSAT practice test and some of the practice tests for the new SAT.
It’s interesting that many people complain that weighting math at one third “punishes” STEM students. Realistically, most people hardly use any math above arithmetic or possibly pre-algebra in their professions or daily lives. Language skills are truly valuable, even for STEM students, in my opinion.
What I don’t understand is how last year, the gap between the lowest cutoff state and highest cutoff state was 23 points, but the estimated ones for this year is only 10 points. If the range of scores this year is the same as last years (60-240 compared to 48-228), wouldn’t the gap between the low and high cutoff states be almost the same? I realize that this year’s test seems to be easier, but that should not account for a range of high and low cutoffs that is less than half compared to previous years.
My son’s high school has not received scores yet - so the vast majority of his friends have no idea about their scores. Because he had taken the SAT his PSAT score was available on their website. It’s going to be so interesting to see how California students did overall. I believe that the kids and parents who post here are exceptionally driven and perhaps the average on CC is pretty skewed. 
I don’t think any of the STEM kids are terrible in verbal skills, in fact I would bet most are in the 99th% there as well, just not perfect or nearly perfect scores. And I think as a country we need to put more emphasis on STEM, not at the expense of language skills but in addition to. Nobody is suggesting the math portion to be weighted more just equal would be nice.
Congrats to those anticipating National Merit! I don’t know if my stats from last year will help any of you, but I was messaged and asked to post, so I will:
I took the PSAT last year (I’m a Senior now) and scored a 226. I hadn’t taken it before and had no preparation. I took the SAT for the first and only time a few months later and scored a 2200 - again, no preparation.
@franklinr20 , one thing you have to consider in regard to the gap, is that scores just shy of perfection are now much closer together. In past years, one wrong in math or writing could cost multiple SI points. Two writing and one math error cost my kid 13 SI points one year. This year that might cost you what, 4?
2014 181
2015 221
+40
Thanks @dallaspiano. I’m going to consolidate all the latest input from people to see what additional we can learn. I’m the parent of a junior now…and enjoying her college search process while trying not to take it all too seriously.
I’m not sure if anything can be derived from these numbers because there are so many additional variables. For my junior, I believe that his 36 point increase was due in large part (maybe half the increase?) to the elimination of the subtract-for-wrong-answers rule. He could never remember that it was sometimes better to leave an answer blank. He did very little prep (his pre-calc teacher did have the kids review algebra concepts and take the practice test as part of their homework) and he hasn’t taken the SAT or ACT, so there was no preparation that might have spilled over. I think there is also a significant “oh, this actually counts” effect on focus during the test that’s going to vary greatly from kid to kid.
Can’t agree any more. similar here. can we do something about that?
Hey everyone so I just got my scores and thought I’d post here. I’m a sophomore and I got a 1360 score and a 208 NMSC Selection Index. 720 reading/writing and 640 math. My question is, how much do I need to increase my scores to have a chance at being a national merit semifinalist next year? I live in Pennsylvania by the way. Thanks.
Just to add to the preparation conversation-- My son didn’t study at all for the soph year psat. He got 191. Then he studied over the summer and into the fall w/ his dad. He then scored 210 for junior year psat. They didn’t use any ACT material, just sat and PSAT. My older son got National Merit a few years ago and has a tuition scholarship. He was also prepped by his dad. Maybe the same prep doesn’t work for this psat. But the two kids are very different, too. Oldest son practiced a lot more than younger one and without complaint. Younger son practiced, too, but seemed less willing than older son. I’m comparing here, but, of course, we’re being very careful w/ the way we talk about the results. Not making any big deal about it.
Hello, my brother got 1460 in GA. It also says 218 which is the same from last year but he did much better questions wise. Where does this put him? The 218 was the cutoff in GA for last year, which means he will probably miss it. However, this https://2400expert.com/class-2017-national-merit-psat-cutoff-scores/ and https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/psat-nmsqt-preliminary-concordance-tables-2015.pdf
He also got 2230 on the SAT he took last year.
Both suggest he should be in pretty good shape. Any clarity? Thanks a lot
@raiderdore --So far most think this is a reasonable guesstimate of cut offs & he’d be safe: http://collegeadmissions.testmasters.com/update-psat-scores-cut-national-merit-2016/
but no one is sure of course.