David caught up with Ibrahim and asked if a few questions regarding the PSAT scores being released today.

 

Ibrahim: Oh, hey, David. Good morning. I didn’t know you were here.

David: Hey, morning. How’re you?

I: Good.

D: Do you know what day it is by chance?

I: Today is December 10th, Monday. PSAT scores come out today.

D: So, what exactly is the PSAT? Is it a practice SAT?

I: You could say that, it’s a practice SAT.  It’s shorter and easier than the SAT. It gives sophomores and juniors a chance to take a standardized test.

D: Oh ok, gotcha. I think your coffee is done.

I: Okay, awesome.

D: Hazelnut?

I: No, French Roast. I’m not a huge fan of flavored coffee.

D: Oh, well… to each their own I guess.

D: So, what exactly does a good PSAT score look like?

I: A good PSAT score is somewhere you can score in the 98th percentile or above- so that was about a 1480 last year. It changes every year. That’s out of 1520, and each section is scored out of 760.

D: Oh wow, cool. So, is that national merit?

I: Yes, actually 1480 is considered national merit and that could get you scholarships for college.

D: So, if someone does well on the PSAT- does that mean they will do well on the SAT?

I: Ideally, they should, but that’s not necessarily the case. Because the PSAT is shorter and easier, students tend to struggle more on the SAT so we recommend they take the ACT as well to kind of get a better sense which test is better.

D: Gotcha, so ideally everyone should take a practice SAT and a practice ACT to find out which test is better suited for them.

I: Bravo, you got this.

D: So let me ask you another question. So, do colleges get to look at the PSAT at all?

I: They only do if you would like them to see it because you scored quite high and you qualify for a national merit scholarship.

D: Well, I know you’re a busy guy so I should probably stop asking you questions now.

I: You’re fine. In fact, I have a junior who has just taken the ACT practice test and I’m going to compare their score with the PSAT that just came out.

Schedule a free practice test. 

Contact us: 713-871-1048  info@firateducation.com