Understanding Your PSAT Scores

College Test Prep
Written By North Avenue Education .

For many high school juniors, the October PSAT/NMSQT was their first foray into standardized testing. Reading the recently released score reports can be close to as challenging as taking the test itself. If you’re wondering what your PSAT score report indicates or why the test is important in the first place, look no further. We’ve compiled a short list of insights to help you maximize your results. 

  • The PSAT/NMSQT stands for the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test. The National Merit Scholarship process awards students with financial assistance for college. Whether or not you are selected as a National Merit Scholar depends on your Selection Index. To calculate your Selection Index, add your three PSAT section scores together and multiply them by two.  

  • View your full PSAT score report online at psat.org/myscore. We highly recommend looking at question-level feedback to identify areas for improvement on the SAT (or ACT).

  • The Selection Index that qualifies you for the National Merit Scholarship varies by state and by year. For more information about this process, check out this blog post.  

  • Your PSAT percentiles indicate that you did as well or better than that percentage of students who took the test. 

  • Your section and composite scores are on a common scale with the SAT. This means that if you scored a 1230 on the October 13th PSAT, you would have scored a 1230 if you had taken a SAT on the same day. 

  • The SAT and PSAT are very similar. If you are unsure whether or not you should take the SAT or the ACT and you have already taken the PSAT, we advise that you to take an ACT practice test to see which exam might be the right fit for you. 

Ultimately, the PSAT is an excellent tool to prepare you for future standardized testing experiences in your junior year. Use your score report to identify weaknesses, confirm strengths, and develop a plan of attack for preparing for either the SAT or the ACT. To learn more, you can check out our webinar recording to unpack the PSAT score report in greater detail.

If you’re still not sure about which test is right for you or how to best go about creating a study plan, please reach out to our team of expert tutors. We’d be happy to help! 

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