PSAT - pros and cons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like the digital version is having some bugs this a.m.

How would you already know?

Because my kids called for a ride home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP, but my 10th grader texted to say they canceled the test partway through due to problems with the digital platform.

I saw something about this and I'm so glad I don't have a junior this year. Gut instinct that the digital platform is still half-baked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like the digital version is having some bugs this a.m.

How would you already know?

. Because they sent us this email:

10/11/2023

Dear Families,

We wanted to make you aware of the nationwide issue with accessing the digital PSAT and PSAT/NMSQT today. This is not an FCPS issue. College Board is actively working to address the issue. Many of our students have already begun testing after a minor delay. The remainder of our schools are continuing to try to administer the test today if the College Board digital resources are available to them. Should a school or testing location not be able to test today, there will be further communications about the next steps for an alternate testing date.

Please note that the SAT School Day test for seniors is not impacted and is proceeding as scheduled.
Fairfax County Public Schools

[Anonymous]

Maybe DeSantis is on to something...
Just kidding!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your DD gets a score in the 1300 range, she will probably receive a National Merit Letter of Commendation which she can put on the awards section of her college application.

If your DD scores higher, she might get other awards.

This is the only reason for her to take it right now.

Not in the 1300 range, in the upper 1400 range is Commended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your DD gets a score in the 1300 range, she will probably receive a National Merit Letter of Commendation which she can put on the awards section of her college application.

If your DD scores higher, she might get other awards.

This is the only reason for her to take it right now.

Not in the 1300 range, in the upper 1400 range is Commended.

1300 in New Mexico maybe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your DD gets a score in the 1300 range, she will probably receive a National Merit Letter of Commendation which she can put on the awards section of her college application.

If your DD scores higher, she might get other awards.

This is the only reason for her to take it right now.

Not in the 1300 range, in the upper 1400 range is Commended.

1300 in New Mexico maybe

No, commended is a national number. And it’s likely the 1400 range as the above poster said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your DD gets a score in the 1300 range, she will probably receive a National Merit Letter of Commendation which she can put on the awards section of her college application.

If your DD scores higher, she might get other awards.

This is the only reason for her to take it right now.

Not in the 1300 range, in the upper 1400 range is Commended.

1300 in New Mexico maybe

No, commended is a national number. And it’s likely the 1400 range as the above poster said.

Maybe a little lower this year since they all took the test in chaos 😬

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be a mistake for a 1500 scorer to skip the PSAT.

My kid scored a 1510 last year in Aug after some prep. With no additional prep, took PSAT and is a NMSF.

(Later in the spring, took a school day SAT and score increased another 30 pts on English, again with no additional prep.)

Congratulations!

[Anonymous]

We're not in DC anymore, but testing apparently went smoothly at my DD's New Jersey public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your DD gets a score in the 1300 range, she will probably receive a National Merit Letter of Commendation which she can put on the awards section of her college application.

If your DD scores higher, she might get other awards.

This is the only reason for her to take it right now.

Not in the 1300 range, in the upper 1400 range is Commended.

1300 in New Mexico maybe

No, commended is a national number. And it’s likely the 1400 range as the above poster said.

Last year it was 207, which translates to a score as low as 1350 if a student did very well on the Reading/Writing section compared to math; but more likely a score of 1390.

[Anonymous]

Things went off without a hitch today at my kids' DC school.

[Anonymous]

Any feedback about the test itself? Aside from tech glitches

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any feedback about the test itself? Aside from tech glitches

My son said the Reading/writing section was the same difficulty as the practice tests he took online. The math was a little harder in the second module today. Hopefully, he did well, as he only missed 1-2 questions on the first practice modules and was able to practice with the harder second modules before taking the real test today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any feedback about the test itself? Aside from tech glitches

Mine found a typo in one of the English questions, something about a misplaced comma that made all the answers grammatically incorrect. They found the rest painfully boring and ridiculously easy, to the point where they needed to triple-check there wasn't some sort of trick involved (there wasn't).

But they did run across a couple of math problems that tripped them up, in spite of taking a refresher course over the summer. The problems looked familiar, and seemed like they should be simple enough, but somehow the logical approaches just didn't work as expected.

All of which sounds exactly on brand for my kid.

Surprisingly, even though they've always strongly preferred paper-and-pencil tests, they didn't mind the new digital interface. There were no technical glitches once the proctor was logged in, and they found it pretty easy to work in the digital environment.