Why is a 99th Percentile PSAT Not Even Commended?

BunnyBlue
Thu, 21 Apr 2016 05:54:10 +0000

Unfortunately, College Board did not provide percentiles that were based on the scores of the actual test takers. Instead they provided percentiles that were based on the scores of a separate experimental test group. Apparently this test group must not have had enough tippy-top students in it to make it comparable to the real test takers. In other words, 209 really was at around the 97th percentile of the actual test takers. Because of this, many students across the country believed that they had a good chance at recognition when they actually didn’t. It has been very disappointing for them. Many had their hopes so high that they are having difficulty accepting it and moving on.

By the way, one thing that didn’t change with the new PSAT is that the selection score used for determining semifinalists is still based two-thirds on language skills and one-third on math.