Once you get the PSAT scores, what happens next? Have your children take the SAT or ACT in the spring of junior year.
My daughter is going to take the SAT in Mar 2012. She’s taken the PSAT and we had her scores sent to our home. But when it comes to the SAT scores I was thinking of doing the same thing and then we personally send the scores to the colleges. Is that the best way to do it?
It’s cheaper to have scores sent directly. For that reason, if she scored good on the PSAT then I would send scores directly. If she scored poorly on the PSAT (below 50 in something) then I would pay the extra money and send them one at a time to colleges if possible. For estimating scores, add a zero to each PSAT score. 500 is average, 600 is good, 700 is great, and 800 is perfect. Anything over 500 is better than the average public school child.
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Thanks, Lee. I was looking at the scores wondering what they meant. Is the percentile any indication of how she did? I think her percentiles were higher than I expected based on the scores themselves. Does that mean everyone taking the test didn’t score as high as they should have? In other words, for the “good, but not great” scores, she was in the 80th percentile range, when I expected her scores would put her closer to the 60-70th range. Can you explain?
Dear Lois,
For the PSAT scores, a 50 per section is average. The percentile score is helpful too, but you want to be above the 50th percentile, which you are 🙂 This is likely the first time students take the test and are compared with “college-bound” age mates, rather than the general public. That may be why her score was not what you were expecting.
This will explain everything:
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/parent-tutorial-for-understanding-psat-nmsqt-results-english.pdf
Blessings,
Lee