Every year, many secondary school understudies take the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT), also known as the PSAT. This test is a decent pointer of how you will perform on the SAT while deciding your qualification for a National Merit Scholarship for juniors.

Statistics/Data of National Merit Scholarships Qualifying Test (NMSQT)

  • Every year, around 50,000 understudies meet all requirements for acknowledgment based on their high PSAT score.
  • Around 34,000 of these students get Letters of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
  • While these letters exclude a grant check, they look great in confirmation workplaces and can record in school applications.
  • The staying 16,000 students—those whose scores put them in the top 99th percentile in their state—become National Merit Semi-finalists.
  • During the 2019-2020 school year, 3.8 million students took the PSAT or PSAT/NMSQT.in the USA. 
  • About 16.8 million students were enrolled in public and private high schools in the United States during that year. That means almost 1 in 4 high school students across the country took the test in the 2019-2020 school year. 
  • The exact test score for National Merit consideration differs from year to year and by state. It is always the top 1% of students who qualify as Semi-finalists. You will have to score in the top 1% of your states — not the whole country. The score range of The test is between 320 and 1520. In addition to that composite score, your score report describes your test scores for Math, Reading, and Writing, and Language. These scores fall between the scale of 8 and 38.

Source: https://reports.collegeboard.org/pdf/2020-total-group-sat-suite-assessments-annual-report.pdf

Who can take the PSAT?

  • Most students take the PSAT at their secondary school in the fall of their sophomore or junior year.
  • Ask a teacher or school counselor when the test will be offering at your school.
  • The ideal approach to plan for the PSAT is to prep for the SAT.

How to Calculate Your Selection Index Score

  • Your PSAT section test scores are the ones that use a scale of 8-38. You will get test scores for each section: Math, Reading, and Writing.
  • An example, say you got a 34 on Math, a 37 on Reading, and a 35 on Writing. Here is how you’d calculate your Selection Index:

The PSAT offers you a chance to know the standardized test contribution. Your scores will not be sent to universities and not affect your secondary school grades. You should pay attention to this test: PSAT scores decide your qualification for National Merit Scholarships.

If you know about PSAT and preparing for the upcoming PSAT test, then check out the Socrato youtube channel for Practice Test scoring and diagnostic report.

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