Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Scores
By mid-November, any student who took any version of the PSAT should have their scores back. But then what? The PSAT has no bearing on college admissions. In fact, colleges don’t ever see your scores. That doesn’t mean, however, that you cannot glean valuable information from your score report. This graphic from College Board’s comprehensive PSAT/NMSQT Understanding Scores for Students and Families document features the three most salient data points from the PSAT score report: Total score on the 320-1520 scale (360-760 Reading and Writing + 360-760 Math) RW and M section scores and percentile ranks A basic Knowledge and Skills analysis based on SAT content domains All of this information is valuable, especially if you know how to read percentiles in the context of standardized tests. The total score can be trusted as a fair indicator of how a tester might score on the SAT, assuming no other preparation…
How Many Times Should I Take the SAT or ACT?
Thinking carefully and proactively about how often to take the SAT or ACT makes a lot of sense; after all, very, very few of us actually enjoy taking these tests (my secret shame!) This common question has two answers, one easy and one a little more complicated. Consider both to craft your testing game plan. How many practice SATs or ACTs should I take? When wondering how many practice tests to take, simply commit to as many as needed to prove to yourself before test day that you can consistently meet or exceed your target score. Many tests lie between where a student begins and where she wants to arrive. You’ll minimize that number by making sure you take the highest quality practice tests possible, meaning official exams under strictly timed test conditions. Follow each practice test with targeted review of every aspect of your exam to really supercharge its…
What is an SAT or ACT Superscore?
Why have the SAT and ACT become so important in the college admissions process? Basically because most admissions officers can use the objective metrics these tests provide to better evaluate more subjective data like grades and class rank. Like it or not, the SAT and ACT provide awesome opportunities for students to enhance their applications. But exams like these do have obvious drawbacks, the most glaring of which is that a given test score represents a snapshot of student performance on one long weekend morning, rather than over a longer period of time. Talk about pressure! However, various changes in both how scores are reported and how they are evaluated have taken some of that pressure off. On the testing side, both the College Board and ACT, Inc. allow students to select which test scores they wish to send. This benefit, which was a long time coming on the SAT…
SAT & ACT Percentiles 2025
In a period of dynamic change to college entrance exams and admissions policies, we tend to appreciate those rare instances of stability, like elements of testing that have not changed since the pandemic. Unfortunately, stagnation has not been positive when it comes to the classic ACT/SAT Concordance Tables. This joint data analysis from College Board and ACT was intended to provide a definitive way to compare SAT and ACT scores. Alas, the last concordance update came out in 2018, and we all know how much has happened since then! I break with many of my colleagues in rejecting the concordance tables. The score scales for both the SAT and ACT have shifted dramatically over time, as careful analysis of updated percentile data shows. Just look at how mean scores have changed: In 2018, the average SAT Composite–meaning the 50th percentile score–was between 1050 and 1060. In 2025, the mean SAT…
When PSAT Scores Come Back
The beginning of December can be a very busy time for anyone connected with test prep or college planning. Why? That’s when students start to get their PSAT scores back and, consequently, when parents get to see their child’s PSAT scores. For many families, this marks the official beginning of a year or more of test-related angst and pressure. It doesn’t have to be that way. If you’re a parent who hasn’t yet learned what these scores mean and what your next steps should be, consider these tips to get you through the initial discovery of your child’s PSAT score: Other than for National Merit and related scholarship consideration, your child’s PSAT score means nothing! In fact, a 10th grader’s PSAT score is not even used for National Merit Scholarship competition. While the PSAT does offer a useful baseline to predict future SAT performance, it is, for all intents and purposes,…
Are SAT & ACT Scores More Predictive Than GPA?
One of the longest running academic debates in our lifetimes has been whether or not SAT & ACT scores carry any predictive value in determining success in college. What’s odd, though, is that only one side has evidence supporting its position. The SAT & ACT have ALWAYS been predictive. If they weren’t, colleges would not have adopted them so long ago–the first SAT was administered in 1926. Traditionally, the calculus was that grades and test scores on their own provided good insight into student success in the first year of college, but that the two data points together offer even better assurance of college readiness. Despite the turmoil of pandemic-era politics, the predictive validity of test scores is not just accepted but embraced in many admissions offices in 2024, especially at the most selective academic institutions: SAT and ACT tests are better predictors of Harvard grades than high school grades.…