When to take PSAT?

[GinaPagnato]

Do you recommend 10th or 11th grade?

 

:bigear:

[Barb_]

It's cheap, so it's a good idea to go ahead and take it in 10th grade for a baseline score. If your student scores close to National Merit ranges (200 or higher), be sure to take it again in 11th. 11th grade is the qualifying year for any scholarships.

[Candid]

Barb didn't say this clearly so let me: in order to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship a student MUST take the PSAT in the 11th grade.

[momma2three]

11th grade is when it counts, some kids take it in 10th as practice.

 

If your child doesn't have much experience with standardized tests, I'd definitely recommend taking it in 10th. A good score is very helpful for college financial aid.

[GinaPagnato]

I didn't realize it only "counts" in 11th grade.

 

So, if you take it in 10th grade it's a practice-practice SAT.

In 11th grade it's a practice SAT.

In 12th grade it's the real deal.

 

Thanks! I think I get it now.

[Candid]

I didn't realize it only "counts" in 11th grade.

 

So, if you take it in 10th grade it's a practice-practice SAT.

In 11th grade it's a practice SAT.

In 12th grade it's the real deal.

 

Thanks! I think I get it now.

 

There's no reason to take the PSAT in 12th grade. And personally I would not wait until 12th grade to take the SAT either, that gives you no time to regroup if the score is not as good as you want or need.

[AngieW in Texas]

Not quite.

 

PSAT ONLY counts in 11th grade. Nobody takes it in 12th grade.

 

You can take it in 10th grade (and even 9th grade) as practice.

 

The National Merit competition ONLY uses the 11th grade score. All other scores evaporate.

[SkateLeft]

I didn't realize it only "counts" in 11th grade.

So, if you take it in 10th grade it's a practice-practice SAT.

In 11th grade it's a practice SAT.

In 12th grade it's the real deal.

 

It's best to think of the PSAT as a completely separate test from the SAT, rather than just as practice for the SAT.

 

The PSAT is the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholar program. Only a score for the PSAT taken in 11th grade will count as a qualifying score.

 

You'd take it in 10th grade as a practice PSAT, then take it as the REAL PSAT in 11th grade. In 11th (or the fall of 12th), you'd also most likely take either the SAT or ACT for college entrance.

 

As the previous poster said, nobody takes the PSAT in 12th grade. There's no reason.

 

My daughter did the PSAT in the fall of 11th grade, and the ACT in the spring of 11th grade. We didn't bother with the SAT at all.

[creekland]

I agree with what the others have written.

 

My youngest will be taking the PSAT and ACT in Oct (he's a junior this year). We'll use those scores to figure out what test he's best at and focus on just one of them for spring and the score for college apps. He's not going to be a NM scholarship contender, but having a real test of both types will give us decent insight. By doing both tests in the same month he won't have to drag out practice (something important to him). There's 10 days between them, so it's not like having to do one right on top of the other.

 

Middle son did similarly and ended up just taking the ACT for his final test. He missed the NM cutoff by a hair, but easily was quite near the top of the ACT (and at the top for parts).

[In The Great White North]

I didn't realize it only "counts" in 11th grade.

 

So, if you take it in 10th grade it's a practice-practice SAT.

In 11th grade it's a practice SAT.

In 12th grade it's the real deal.

 

And although the PSAT only counts in 11th grade, the SAT counts anytime in high school.

 

SO, if your dc's school wants ALL of the SAT scores, the SAT from 9th grade will be averaged in but the PSAT won't.

 

(Some schools will average the test scores, others "superscore," and other take the most recent.)

[angela in ohio]

And although the PSAT only counts in 11th grade, the SAT counts anytime in high school.

 

SO, if your dc's school wants ALL of the SAT scores, the SAT from 9th grade will be averaged in but the PSAT won't.

 

(Some schools will average the test scores, others "superscore," and other take the most recent.)

 

I've never heard of a college that averages all of a student's SAT scores. Has someone actually had a school average in their 9th grade score, and which school was it? I've also never seen a school take only the most recent.

 

I've only seen two options in our search: superscore or highest single test day.

[angela in ohio]

My dd is just taking the PSAT this year for 11th grade. I had her take the SAT and ACT last year in 10th to get an idea of what schools to look at, what prep we needed to do, which test was better for her, etc. (Which worked well, though that last post has me concerned about that now.)

[Kathy in Richmond]

I've never heard of a college that averages all of a student's SAT scores. Has someone actually had a school average in their 9th grade score, and which school was it? I've also never seen a school take only the most recent.

 

I've only seen two options in our search: superscore or highest single test day.

 

I've only seen the two options you've listed, Angela. Most colleges here state that they take the "highest section scores across all testing dates" or "single highest test date". I suppose those listed under "all SAT scores required" instead of the other options could do whatever they wished, but I've never heard personally of a college that averaged the scores.

[In The Great White North]

I ran across the "average" and "most recent" when my oldest was applying. They were not his top choices, and I don't remember which they were. And they may have changed. His top choices all superscored. Back in the day, hardly any schools superscored.

 

Here's a list from the College Board of SAT use practices:

 

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-use-practices-list.pdf

 

I have no idea how accurate it is, but you can certainly check any schools your dc are interested in.

 

Less noxious than the "average" or "most recent" practice but still concerning is this caveat that a few schools that claimed to use the highest score included on their website:

 

Colgate considers all SAT scores in the application review process and requires that students submit all SAT scores from all test dates.

It may all be pointless in the end, but if dc takes the PSAT several times for practice instead of the SAT, the issue won't come up. The PSAT is cheaper too.

[creekland]

I ran across the "average" and "most recent" when my oldest was applying. They were not his top choices, and I don't remember which they were. And they may have changed. His top choices all superscored. Back in the day, hardly any schools superscored.

 

Here's a list from the College Board of SAT use practices:

 

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-use-practices-list.pdf

 

I have no idea how accurate it is, but you can certainly check any schools your dc are interested in.

 

Less noxious than the "average" or "most recent" practice but still concerning is this caveat that a few schools that claimed to use the highest score included on their website:

 

It may all be pointless in the end, but if dc takes the PSAT several times for practice instead of the SAT, the issue won't come up. The PSAT is cheaper too.

 

Unless I'm reading that link wrong, no school claims to average scores. There are some that want all scores to "consider" them all, but those are generally looking to see an upward trend or a consistent high (vs a one time great score back in 10th grade). Some also like to see if a student took it once and done or several times. Individual adcoms have told me they like to see a student who started out reasonably high retake a test to get even higher. They know they're willing to put in effort and are capable. They aren't so fond of the once and done simply because they don't know if they studied to get their score (and are at their highest) or if they took it cold (and have room to improve, but are too lazy to want to do so). They also aren't so fond of the "many" multiple test takers nor those who vary quite a bit up and down (vs upward progression). BUT, that's personal preference with the adcoms. One did tell me they liked the "once and done" high scorers.

 

In general, the higher the level school, the more they wanted to see all the test scores. Lower level (and state) schools tended to be happy with just one set of scores (with or without superscoring). I think for higher level schools they are simply trying whatever they feel is best to differentiate between well qualified students.

 

But an average? Haven't seen it, which doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but it would seem strange considering some do start testing in 9th or 10th grade and others only take it in 11th and/or 12th.