College 101
What's a Good PSAT Score? Article Type: Quick and Dirty
So, you're gearing up for the PSAT®—a.k.a. the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test—and it just might be the first test you've taken that's not scored on a 100-point scale.
No pressure or anything, but the exam only happens once a year, so you're gonna want to be sure you're ready. Before you trade scores with your buds, you might want to know: what's a good score for the PSAT?
Spoiler alert: good's subjective. But there are a few different ways to break down the PSAT score, to help you figure out what might be a good goal or score for you.
1. National Merit Scholarship
Strong PSAT scores could put you in the running for several college scholarships. The "NMSQT" part of PSAT/NMSQT actually stands for "National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test." And unlike other scholarship competitions, the National Merit Scholarship's a piece of cake to apply for. You just have to check a few boxes...oh, and earn not only a good PSAT score, but a stellar PSAT score.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation uses their own Selection Index to figure out who the winners are, and the top .5% of scorers in each state earn National Merit. It might be a tall order, but if you think you're in the running, you can find your index score by a) adding your three test scores together b) multiplying that by 2 and c) seeing if that number might make your state's cut-off.
Keep in mind that the cut-off depends on the scores turned in for the year, so if you think you're close, hit the books.
2. College Board Benchmarks
The College Board powers-that-be have designed a series of benchmarks for the SAT Suite that should give you an idea of your college readiness. We just talked about the cream-of-the-crop students, but if "good" to you means "not falling into the red zone," benchmarks will tell you if you're where you need to be.
Plus, they're color-coded, so you'll actually know if you're falling into the red zone. Check 'em out here.
3. Percentiles
If you're up for a little competition, your PSAT score report will also include your percentiles. If you want to do better than most kids on the exam, you'll be looking to be in the 50th percentile.
For all of the score report details, head over to the College Board's page on understanding scores.
4. College Goals
And last but not least, your PSAT score is meant to predict your SAT® score. If you have a big college list in mind, do a little interwebbing and look for the average SAT scores of their admitted students.
With a goal in mind, and a post-exam score report in hand, you'll be able to handle your studying moving forward to hit your goal, and hopefully, an acceptance letter. But keep in mind that test scores aren't everything.
And as always, Shmoop's got your back.
PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which were not involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this product.
SAT is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.