PSAT Distractions

Paying for College Financial Aid (Need-Based, Merit Aid, Loans)
1

<p>I was heavily distracted during a PSAT by three students. One tapped his feet thorough out the entire test while the others kept finishing early and staring at me (we sat three per circular table). I didn’t tell anyone except my parents.</p>

<p>When I got the test back, I saw that I scored a 207. I had gone into the test expecting to easily receive above the necessary score for the NMS. I told my counselor, emailed college board, and faxed and mailed to NM. College board did nothing and NM told me that I could have had my scores invalidated but it was too late to change anything now (being when I got my score back).</p>

<p>I basically cried myself to sleep that day. Any time I hear people talking about PSAT or SAT, or see any of the kids that distracted me, I just get depressed. I want more than anything to get into a great school, but my parents can’t afford large tuition fees. I was hoping that the NMS would set me apart. Not only did I not get the scholarship, but anyone who looks at my PSAT score doesn’t realize my true capability.</p>

<p>I took the SAT a month before the PSAT and got a 2075. This was my first time taking it and I got a 8 on the essay, so my score would have invariably been higher just because of that. Additionally, my SAT reading score was 100 points higher than my PSAT score. </p>

<p>Basically, my heart is crushed. Any advice on what to do now? I’m taking the SAT again inarch, with plans to get about a 2300 (practice tests).</p>

2

<p>You are putting too much weight on the NMF distinction that might have come your way with a better PSAT. There are tons of scholarships out there for students who are not NMF. Buckle down to studying for your SAT, and make sure your ECs and grades really shine. You would need to do these things anyway, regardless of whether you made NMF.</p>

<p>And also work on your own “inner game” – other people “staring at you” should not be a big distraction. If someone is really doing something physical while you take the SAT (foot tapping, pencil tapping, etc.), notify the proctor in the room DURING the test, not after your scores are back.</p>

3

<ol>
<li><p>2075? SAT scores are all multiples of 10.</p></li>
<li><p>Your PSAT score and your SAT score are remarkably well aligned. It’s hard to make a case from the data here that you were significantly harmed by these distractions.</p></li>
<li><p>Sometimes bad stuff happens and it’s beyond anybody’s power to do anything about it. This is one of those times. My daughter’s sophomore PSATs were clearly above our state’s cut-off for National Merit, and her SAT scores from junior year were comparably high. But when she took PSAT as a junior, she had a bad day, and she scored lower. She didn’t cry herself to sleep over it. And neither should you.</p></li>
<li><p>“I want more than anything to get into a great school.” In my book, that’s a kind of shallow ambition. I want my kids to grow up to be happy, competent adults, who are able to take care of themselves, and also compassionate enough to help take care of others who can’t. Moreover, your PSAT score isn’t going to keep you out of any college or university.</p></li>
<li><p>With a score of 207, you’ll be commended. Congratulations. It would have been nice if you’d been a semi-finalist, but that’s not going to happen. I am genuinely sorry about that. But you need to move on from this. Time to put on your big-boy (or big-girl) pants.</p></li>
</ol>

4

<p>I should add that I also had a “bad” day when I took the PSAT many years ago. Had an, um, unfortunate incident the evening before that cost me sleep and was definitely distracting. Missed the NMSF cutoff. My guidance counselor told me later that I had the highest SAT score in our county (so clearly higher than the 2 NMFs from my high school). It sure wan’t the end of the line for me in terms of academic success.</p>

5

<p>Most schools don’t give a fig about the PSAT. Get our SAT score up and somewhere there’s a college for you. Stiff upper lip and all that. GL</p>

6

<p>@Sikorsky Yes, I meant 2070, and yes they are remarkably well aligned… however, when you take into account that this score was from the first SAT I have taken, and that the SAT has a writing section on it (I got an 8 my first time), and that my reading score (which was the highest on my SAT) was the lowest on my PSAT by 100 points, it starts to make a little more sense. </p>

<p>As for your daughter, well I’m sorry, but to be perfectly fair I was not having a bad day. I went to sleep early, ate a good breakfast, took care of myself, and was having a terrific day until the reading section and the tapping started. I have blamed myself a million times for not telling somebody sooner, but It’s hard for me to neglect the fact that I didn’t distract myself by tapping my own foot.</p>

<p>Continuing… does attacking High School Juniors on the internet make you happy? “Shallow”? You’re in no position to judge anybody, so don’t. I would think that a “Competent adult” would know better than to post such a ridiculous response to a Junior’s asking for help. If people didn’t want to get into “Great schools,” why do they exist? I enjoy learning–aspiring is what makes me happy. </p>

<p>I’m not proud of being commended. I understand that it sounds as though I’m being overly critical, but I’m not. I could have done better than a 207 without question, and it does not reflect my potential at all. I don’t want to put it on my application because I don’t want people to think that I got a 207 by trying my hardest on the PSAT. This is my problem, and it upsets me a lot. </p>

<p>I understand luck, but I don’t understand why it’s so unreasonable to feel this way. A lot of my friends will be finalists. My sister was a finalist, and she is arguably a lesser caliber student than I am. It seems some people just never have any problems, and I just can’t understand why this happens to me and why I’m blamed for it. </p>

<p>Let me apologize for being too foolishly polite to ask a proctor to move away from my classmen, and apologize for being too foolishly shy to make a large fuss about it soon enough.</p>

7

<p>You are just making too big a deal out of this. Our school sends students to Ivy League schools every year who are not finalists. I think you are more worried about comparing yourself to your sister and peers than about the actual impact of this. But it is a typical teenage attitude… you think everyone is looking at YOU, and everyone will notice that YOU did not make NMF. Really not true. They might think it in passing (I remember a bit of surprise at who didn’t make it in my kids’ classes), but it really is not a big factor in college admissions or success in life.</p>

<p>You came out and asked for feedback. The feedback you are getting is that you are making a much bigger deal out of this than you should. And it is time to move on, because there is NOTHING you can do about it anyway.</p>

<p>If you were a student who very much needed Financial Aid, and had been hoping to attend someplace like Alabama with huge NMF scholarships, then it might be a bit more understandable. But this seems like an ego thing…</p>

8

<p>Don’t beat yourself up for a bad test day. If you score well on the SAT and ACT you will be fine. My son was 5 points short of NMSF a few years back. He had scored a 236 on a practice PSAT the week before. He was bummed but he got a 35 on his ACT & 2200+ on his SAT his junior year. He received many of the same scholarship offers that my daughter (who is NM) has received. </p>

<p>Blaming yourself or others won’t help. Just keep working hard!</p>

9

<p>I really don’t understand what you’re asking. You’re disappointed with your PSAT scores. Yes, that’s understandable. But, are you asking about how to better on your SAT? If so, then you should post a question about that in the SAT Forum. </p>

<p>However, if you are here about your PSAT, why? You stated that there is nothing that you can do now. So, what is the point of this post? To complain? I understand that these distractions possibly hurt your score. But, if you were this concerned about your score and that distracted by the other kids, you should have said something. There’s nothing you can do with your PSAT score now.</p>

<p>You are worried about paying for tuition? I don’t know what your definition of a good school is, but for me, that’s an Ivy or a college on that level. Most of those colleges have EXTREMELY generous financial aid. For example, if you attend Harvard and have a family income of less than 60,000, you are expected to pay nothing. You may not fall in that bracket, but that’s just an example of their generosity. Some schools have calculators so you can see what you’d be expected to pay based on your family income and a bunch of other things. </p>

<p>Additionally, NMS may not be able to help you, but there are a bunch of other scholarships out there. Some offer to pay your whole tuition, but don’t just look at those. Try for a bunch of small ones too, because those can add up.</p>

<p>I understand you’re not happy with your situation right now. Nevertheless, remember a few things. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>NMS is not that big of a deal with colleges. To be a competitive candidate at good schools, you need a good scores (preferably 2100 +). If you are able to get that score, then scoring a similar score on a PSAT isn’t really that big of a deal. </p></li>
<li><p>Though your 207 may seem bad, it really isn’t. If you feel uncomfortable putting that on your applications, then don’t. However, it might look good, in the sense that it can show that maybe you didn’t start off fabulous, but, if you get the score you’re aiming for, you put in the effort (like you would at their college).</p></li>
<li><p>In the scheme of things, this test isn’t that important. Focus on your SAT’s, because those are what really matter. And getting into a great school is fabulous, but if you really are determined, there will be a school out there that is just what you need, whether it be an Ivy or a state school.</p></li>
</ol>

10

<p>Aoeiff, I understand your frustration at not having ideal testing conditions when you took the PSAT, and thus not doing as well as you’d anticipated. But the good news is the PSAT score plays very little (if any) role in your chances of admission to “great” schools.
Applicants don’t report their PSAT scores on college applications - at least I never did. You have multiple opportunities to prepare for and take/retake the standardized tests that do matter (ACT and SAT). The PSAT is simply a scholarship competition test, not a college entrance exam. Thus no need to worry about people thinking you tried your hardest and got a 207.</p>

<p>The other good news is there are many schools that offer generous merit aid irrespective of PSAT scores. Plus, if your parents and you can’t afford to pay, you may very well qualify for federal and institutional financial aid.</p>

<p>Please undertand that posters on this board are only here to offer useful advice and help us maintain a reasonable perspective during the often stressful process of applying to college.</p>

<p>Good luck to you.</p>

11

<p>somebody staring at you? and somebody tapping their feet?</p>

<h1>firstworldproblems</h1>

12

<p>I’m just disappointed, and was hoping that maybe there’s something I’m missing that might ease the stress… If what you’re saying is true, I do feel a little better, but I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for not saying anything before it was too late. I just wanted to know how important the NMS is and if there’s some course of action that I should take. I had just wanted the NMS so badly, especially after seeing all the special treatment my sister was given when she was a finalist.</p>

<p>I live in Florida, but I would really like to attend an Ivy League school, or one similar. I can understand all the cliches, etc., that “All kids want to go Ivy,” but I really feel as though I wouldn’t have fulfilled my potential by settling for a school that’s less selective. Honestly, even though I would love to be accepted, I don’t see myself getting accepted into Harvard or Yale, but I would be honored to get accepted into Cornell or the like. I went to Cornell two summers ago because it’s near where my grandparents live and I loved the campus and the ambiance. </p>

<p>I attend a gifted school, and have only gotten one B (it was am 89.4… another thing I keep kicking myself at) in ninth grade. I have a 4.8 weighted GPA or something like that, and am taking four AP classes this year, including BC Calculus, and 6 APs next year. My ECs are decent, I’m in several honor societies, and have had 2 different jobs totaling about 1 1/2 years. I feel ashamed when I say that I want to attend an Ivy school because my parents seem to not want me to. My family is not poor, but not rich either; we are comfortable, but big expenses like college tuition always seem to be a sore subject. I know that Harvard and Yale are extremely generous, but I don’t know about the other schools. I also know that the aid is all need based, but you clearly have to get accepted first.</p>

13

<p>Aieiffert,</p>

<p>One thing about Ivys…they generally don’t participate in National Merit Scholarships – you would not get a full ride based on NMS to those schools.</p>

14

<p>Definitely not full ride… it’s more the recognition and getting accepted with open arms into a school. The award is only around $3000 I think.</p>

15

<p>Aoeiffert, you’re still getting distracted by things that shouldn’t matter–just as much today as when you took the PSAT.</p>

<p>You didn’t do as well as you wanted to on the PSAT. I’m sorry; I know that’s frustrating. Now you can make a choice: you can shake it off, or you can wallow in self-pity and endless games of “what if?” Honestly, it makes little difference to me which one you do, but you’ll be a happier and more productive person if you don’t wallow. And a more sensible person, too, because how you did on the really doesn’t matter very much. Even if you’d become a National Merit semi-finalist, it wouldn’t have mattered that much. It would not have been the magic key that unlocks the ivy-covered gates, as you’re making it out to be.</p>

<p>And you think I was mean to you. And perhaps I was, a little bit, because you’re being kind of melodramatic and ridiculous. Sometimes your friends won’t tell you stuff like this because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. But it is meaningful that you came to vent about your frustrations on the Internet and nobody said, “Wow, you’re right. That’s awful and you should do something about it!”</p>

<p>If you are a smart, high-achieving student who belongs in a top-notch college, then go and be one. It’s not smart to get hung up on this, and it won’t lead to high achievement, either.</p>

<p>Good luck to you.</p>

16

<p>Here’s my advice, Aoeiffert. NMSF doesn’t really matter. At all. It just takes up 1 line under “Academic Honors.” You still have time before you have to apply - go find some other academic honors that you can win to fill up those spaces. Ivy league schools literally could not care less about National Merit Finalists - their entire incoming class will have high test scores, they don’t need NMSC to tell them that. Try to move on and enjoy high school.

hahahahahahahahahahaha that was really good xD</p>

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<p>It wasn’t meant to be a joke. It was really meant to be advice.</p>

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<p>Harvey Mudd Love: I know HM is a great school, but your name just sounds like all kinds of wrong.</p>

19

<p>Distractions are one of the things we need to just suck up and move on. I got a 220 in California…I totally feel you</p>

<p>Sent from my HTC One X using CC</p>

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<p>None of the Ivy league schools will offer you any merit scholarship based on NMF status (or anything else). They also won’t accept you with open arms on that basis. NMF is completely irrelevant for Ivy League acceptances. Knock that SAT (or ACT) out of the park, and keep up your grades and do something fantastic to improve the world. That is what will get you into an Ivy League school. You don’t even report your PSAT score on your college applications.</p>