What Is A Good PSAT Score? September 2019

PSAT is a rehearsal for the actual SAT examination. In other words, a good PSAT score is one, which if duplicated in the actual SAT examination, will secure your admission to any college of your choice. So your desirable PSAT score must be one that brings you success in SAT. A good PSAT/SAT score cannot be accurately defined in terms of just numbers or marks. It is a competitive examination with the maximum possible score being 1600. In that context, a score of 1000 to 1200 may seem to be “good.” However, what is important is the score other students get.

The Percentile Ranking

Evaluating how good a score truly is has to be done on the e basis of percentile ranking. It means that your score has to be viewed in the context of the average scores of all other candidates who took the examination. For example, let us say that the average SAT score in a particular year is 1120 comprising of 570 in math and 550 in evidence based reading and writing. It means that half of all students got scores of below 1120 and half got scores above that. In that specific year a score of 1300 would be termed as good. However, if in a year the median score is 1250, a score of 1300 will be just above average. Above average will put you in the top half of students and may qualify you for admission into some colleges, but perhaps notinto the college of your choice.

The Numbers Game

Of course, what you actually score is vital. Knowing how to evaluate your potential score gives you a target to strive for. To do this you should use online resources to check out the colleges you want to try for. The websites of many of these institutions will give you details of the average scores that qualified for admission in the previous years. The minimum score that obtained admission may well be available too. If the websites of the colleges you are trying for do not have this information, it will be available on many general college admission information websites. Remember, your objective should not be to reach the average score that got admission in the recent years. That number could be higher this year. The average score is the very minimum you can afford to achieve with hope for admission. It is not what you should aim for if you are serious about getting admission to colleges of your choice.

The object of SAT is to get you admission into the institutions that will build your future. To that end, your objective should not be to determine “what is a good score”. Good is anywhere among the top 50% of the students who take up the test. In 2018 a score of1250 would place you in the 81 percentile which is certainly a good score and one that will open many admission doors. However, in future, the same score could place you in the 71 percentile and the admission options will reduce accordingly. The tutor sat Catalyze Center are well equipped to guide you on what you should strive for. They have the most current information on all matters relating to SAT.