How did your sophomore do on the PSATs?

[Anonymous]

Because PSAT is 1520 and sat is 1600.

[Anonymous]

1200 PSAT and a 1510 SAT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:220 selection index => 1470 raw.
Met expectations, as DC is a very strong test-taker.

Interesting - also 1470 but selection index was 219. Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Disregard above - student was not a sophmore

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:220 selection index => 1470 raw.
Met expectations, as DC is a very strong test-taker.

Interesting - also 1470 but selection index was 219. Interesting.

SI depends on the raw score breakdown. If there is a substantial difference between math and writing score, it could result in a lower index.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:220 selection index => 1470 raw.
Met expectations, as DC is a very strong test-taker.

Interesting - also 1470 but selection index was 219. Interesting.

SI depends on the raw score breakdown. If there is a substantial difference between math and writing score, it could result in a lower index.

Does it take into account the difficulty level of the questions missed?

[Anonymous]

690 V, 520 M

[Anonymous]

620 V, 560 M - selection index 180

Of course my DD is freaking out because she rolls with alot of high flyers. I think there is alot of room for improvement.

She skipped 11 questions on the math. My understanding that the PSAT does not penalize for guessing - so even if you select option c for each one you skip, you are likely to hit on a couple of correct answers.
My DD knew about this strategy and didn't follow it.

So one question for this group. Is it best for students to practice for SAT to help improve the PSAT score? Also are the PSAT and SAT scoring the same? Meaning the new SAT tops out at 1520?

[Anonymous]

Gals, don't you get that the PSAT is pretty much meaningless - it's practice for the SAT. And that PSAT 10 is just practice for the practice?

If the reason you care is that you are counting on automatic scholarships to Bama or Ole Miss as a semi-finalist, remember that there is only a 1% chance of success (in other words, a 99% failure rate). There are lots of (equally good) colleges that will provide as much aid for students that are not semifinalists but have nearly identical scores. If your child's scores are in the top 5%, there is a decent chance with measurement error and performance variability alone that they might actually be in the top 1%. But its a matter of chance. It doesn't mean they are any more special or less awesome than anyone else in that top tier.

FWIW, the new selection index double weights the reading and writing scores over math. So a stronger verbal student with the same overall score as a student with stronger math will have a high selection index. It seems intended to give the non-STEM students an advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gals, don't you get that the PSAT is pretty much meaningless - it's practice for the SAT. And that PSAT 10 is just practice for the practice?

If the reason you care is that you are counting on automatic scholarships to Bama or Ole Miss as a semi-finalist, remember that there is only a 1% chance of success (in other words, a 99% failure rate). There are lots of (equally good) colleges that will provide as much aid for students that are not semifinalists but have nearly identical scores. If your child's scores are in the top 5%, there is a decent chance with measurement error and performance variability alone that they might actually be in the top 1%. But its a matter of chance. It doesn't mean they are any more special or less awesome than anyone else in that top tier.

FWIW, the new selection index double weights the reading and writing scores over math. So a stronger verbal student with the same overall score as a student with stronger math will have a high selection index. It seems intended to give the non-STEM students an advantage.

Why so dismissive? Becoming a NMSF can result in significant merit aid at a large number of schools (there's another thread on the college forum about this), and for many families that's an extremely important consideration in choosing a college. The sophomore PSATs can help kids and their parents figure out what areas the kid may need to work on for the junior PSATs and the SAT or ACT.

Also, though there may be around a 1% chance of making the cutoff in DC, MD, or VA, I'm sure that the sort of families that are on DCUM asking questions like this are much more likely to have their children be within that 1% than those that don't realize that test prep can be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gals, don't you get that the PSAT is pretty much meaningless - it's practice for the SAT. And that PSAT 10 is just practice for the practice?

If the reason you care is that you are counting on automatic scholarships to Bama or Ole Miss as a semi-finalist, remember that there is only a 1% chance of success (in other words, a 99% failure rate). There are lots of (equally good) colleges that will provide as much aid for students that are not semifinalists but have nearly identical scores. If your child's scores are in the top 5%, there is a decent chance with measurement error and performance variability alone that they might actually be in the top 1%. But its a matter of chance. It doesn't mean they are any more special or less awesome than anyone else in that top tier.

FWIW, the new selection index double weights the reading and writing scores over math. So a stronger verbal student with the same overall score as a student with stronger math will have a high selection index. It seems intended to give the non-STEM students an advantage.

I think you misunderstand the concept of chance. My freshman scored 1400, he is in the 99%. Is there room for improvement? Yes. It is beneficial that the test revealed his math weaknesses, and now he will take steps to improve.

[Anonymous]

I think we're talking past each other when I mentioned measure error. Tests aren't perfect. There are issues of repeatability or reliability in the SAT and the PSAT, as with all standardized tests. All the kids in the top 5% or so are in the pool of the potential admits for all the best schools.

I disagree that a freshman (or sophomore) scoring 1400 needs room for improvement. Getting another 100 points will boost his percentile from something like 99.8 to 99.9. She'd be much better positioned for college admissions if she spent the extra effort on something other than test prep, since she's already at the top of the scale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:220 selection index => 1470 raw.
Met expectations, as DC is a very strong test-taker.

Within days emails from second-rate colleges started arriving in multitudes. Nice side business selling our kids data, College Board!

[Anonymous]

SI 201. Don't recall the section scores. DS will start working to bring that up before next year.

Older DS raised his score 30 points between soph & junior year (old PSAT). It can be done. Hired a tutor who specializes in high-anxiety students: $1,500 total for several sessions. Also did independent prep and prep through the school. It's important to be consistent in test preparation. Slow and steady wins the race.

National Merit may not mean much to some DCs or families, but it was huge to us. DS is on a full tuition scholarship at state flagship, with another scholarship paying for his books. Medical expenses meant little college savings, so we are happy & grateful for that scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:220 selection index => 1470 raw.
Met expectations, as DC is a very strong test-taker.

Within days emails from second-rate colleges started arriving in multitudes. Nice side business selling our kids data, College Board!

Don't kids get to choose whether they get information from colleges or not?