Any PSAT score in the range of 1450-1500 is also a tremendous achievement, and an early indication that a student is academically prepared to pursue applications to top-ranked universities and colleges in the US. If you score between a 1400 and a 1450 you should also be proud.
Scores in the 950-1080 range are considered good, and scores above 1080 are excellent. Top colleges generally consider anything above 1200 to be competitive. If you're aiming for Ivy League schools, your goal should be 1450 or higher.
The average PSAT 8/9 score, or the 50th percentile score, is 850. The average section scores are 430 for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and 420 for Math.
Does a 1400 PSAT Qualify for National Merit? Based on the scores of real grade 11 students who took the PSAT, a score of 1400 puts you in the 97th percentile. You may not qualify for the National Merit Scholarship with this score: it also depends on the cut-off scores of your state.
Assuming it was the PSAT 8/9, then a 1080 is a good score, especially if you plan to take it again in 9th grade. The PSAT 8/9 is essentially a practice to prepare you for the PSAT/NMSQT and the real SATs you will take later on in high school, and your score on the PSAT 8/9 doesn't matter.
The PSAT 8/9 is essentially just another way to practice for the PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT. If you're really invested in figuring out where you need to improve your scores in order to do well enough on the PSAT/NMSQT to win a National Merit Scholarship, the PSAT 8/9 is a useful low-stakes assessment tool.
Any PSAT score in the range of 1450-1500 is also a tremendous achievement, and an early indication that a student is academically prepared to pursue applications to top-ranked universities and colleges in the US. If you score between a 1400 and a 1450 you should also be proud.
A high PSAT score is incredibly promising and is an accomplishment to be proud of — but high PSAT scores do not necessarily promise high SAT scores. Students who do well on the PSAT will do well on the SAT only if they continue to work hard!
A 1250 PSAT score in 8th or 9th grade is a great place to start. For reference, I scored 1180 during my freshman year and ended up scoring 1500 my junior year, which qualified me for the National Merit Scholarship.
The PSAT 8/9 is lowered by 80 points, resulting in a total score of 240 to 1440, or 120 to 720 for each component. It has been reduced to compensate for the fact that it is a significantly simpler test than the PSAT/NMSQT.
This common score scale means that a student who took the PSAT 8/9 and received a Math section score of 500 would be expected to also get a 500 on the SAT, the PSAT/NMSQT, or the PSAT 10 if they had taken any of those tests on that same day; a score of 500 represents the same level of academic achievement on all four ...
Based on that reasoning, a good PSAT score for a sophomore is a composite score higher than 1060, an OK score is one higher than 920, and an excellent score is anything higher than 1180.
To give you a sense of where that score places you, the PSAT is scored on a scale of 320 to 1520. This score of 1400 puts you well above the average, usually landing in the 95th percentile or higher. This means that you scored better than about 95% of the students who took the test!
A PSAT score of 850–860 is considered decent and will place your 9th grader in the 50th percentile range. To reach the top 10%, a student needs a score of 1110 or above. To be among the top 1% of 9th grader PSAT test takers, your student would need a score of 1280–1440.
The average PSAT/NMSQT score is about 920. A score between 1210 and 1520 puts you in the top 10% of test takers. The PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT are very similar tests, so your score on the PSAT/NMSQT can give you an idea of how you'll do when you take the SAT.
I got around a 1200 my sophomore year of high school, and then a 1460 for the PSAT my junior year. The fact that you got that during 8th grade is very good, you should be proud of yourself. Now, what you do with that score is what comes next.
Students need to take the PSAT/NMSQT, usually in their junior year, to be eligible for scholarships and recognition through the program. Taking the PSAT 8/9 or the PSAT 10 won't qualify students for the program.
It's given to eighth and ninth graders and can be administered in the fall or spring. The PSAT 8/9 is designed to set a baseline for students at the beginning of their high school career so educators can measure progress over the following years.
