What is Digital PSAT Score Calculator?

Many sites provide direct calculations of your PSAT scores. Calculating your scores yourself helps you identify whether you are selected for national merit scholarships or not. Educators and online service providers have developed various tools and calculators that will help you determine your test score. This will give you an idea of whether you are prepared for the final SAT exam or not.

What is a Good PSAT Score? (2023-2024)

Students in their sophomore year often choose to take the SAT exam. To make the examination process easier, the College Board has launched the digital PSAT exams from October 2023. The PSAT test is among the standardized tests based in the US and accepted worldwide. It is also known as the NMSQT exam, which means National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Students need to have a good understanding of the PSAT scoring system. Before taking the PSAT exams, it is important to understand how the PSAT scores are calculated. A good PSAT score will help them in getting college admission easily and also get them into their dream college.

Factors That Determine a Good PSAT Score

Many different factors determine a good PSAT score. Some of these factors are:

College Terms and Conditions

All colleges have a different cutoff score for admission. For some US colleges, the PSAT score report is of the utmost importance. They demand a high PSAT score from test takers in addition to a good GPA and extra weightage in the form of letters of recommendation. In such cases, a good PSAT score would be between 1200 and 1600.

Many US colleges do not ask for very high scores on the PSAT. They pay more attention to GPA and overall student achievements. A PSAT score above 1000 would be enough to get into such colleges. But

Ivy League colleges are usually the dream of all high school students. If this is indeed your dream, then you need to work very hard to get into the top 10% of test takers. Such top schools have a cut-off score for the PSAT exams.

Subject Chosen

Usually, getting into the Arts stream is easier than getting into the Science or Commerce streams. Colleges that have high-level Science and Math courses will ask for high math section scores. They require advanced math in addition to good math test scores. Similarly, for students who are opting for language or literature, a good writing score will help them get into the college of their choice. Overall, a score above 1400 is very important to get into the qualification round.

Hence, it is also important to consider whether you want to opt for language and humanities or science and math before deciding your ideal PSAT score range.

Overall Performance

Your overall performance also counts when deciding whether your PSAT score is a good one or not. Today, most colleges look for extracurricular activities in addition to a good PSAT score. Colleges look at the subjects you have opted for in high school and the level of difficulty of each subject.

Sometimes, they ask you how well you fit into the college culture and demand what’s so special about you. They also look at your sports record and communication skills. Therefore, you need to consider multiple factors before you take the PSAT exam.

What Is the Overall PSAT/NMSQT Score Range to Be Eligible for National Merit Scholarship?

The National Merit Scholarship has set a selection index of the top 15% of the test takers. This index varies from one test to another and from one state to another. The overall score range for eligibility in the National Merit Scholarship is usually 1210 to 1520. This will put you in the top ten percent of the test takers. Besides your score on the PSAT/NMSQT, your SAT scores, cross-test scores, and other academic performance also determine your scholarship eligibility.

What Is the PSAT/NMSQT Score Range for Each Section Required for National Merit Scholarship?

The evidence-based reading and writing section is also known as the EBRW section. The math section and the language section scores each should exceed 600 to be eligible for a scholarship.

Your total score should be more than 1150 under any condition if you wish to qualify for the NMSQT. However, there is a selection index set by the National Merit Scholarship Program which is used to calculate PSAT scores.

How Much Is the Average PSAT Score Range?

The average PSAT scores are around 920 combining both sections of the test. If you wish to perform better than average test takers, you can reach out to EdisonOS. We have a vast digital SAT question library with 1000+ questions and 7 expert-designed mock tests.

Each test is tagged by topic, and skill, and prepared as per College Board standards. Detailed explanations are provided for each question and its options, including distractors. EdisonOS only provides original, ethically sourced, and properly licensed content.

A Good PSAT Score Considering Percentiles

The PSAT score report has a section that compares your scores with the scores of others who have taken the test with you. This comparison is presented in the form of percentiles. It is in the form of data analysis of each test taker compared to the overall scores of other test takers. For example, if you are in the 80th percentile, you have got the same or better scores than 80 percent of other high school juniors who have appeared with you.

Percentile ranking helps you understand how well you stand in competition with other students. The higher the percentile means you scored equal to or better than more and more students. PSAT percentile rankings change from year to year depending on the candidates that appear that year.

What is NMSC?

NMSC refers to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Every year, the NMSC honors academically talented students in the United States of America by granting them a scholarship to the top PSAT scorers. National Merit Scholarships are distributed among students in their junior year who have attained a high score on the PSAT.

Only juniors who have qualified for the selection index cutoff score can avail of this scholarship. A student who qualifies for this scholarship gains national merit recognition and is considered to be a commended student. Such students are more likely to gain admission into colleges of their choice.

What is the Selection Index?

The Selection Index is the criterion by which scholarships are granted to recommended students. The PSAT test consists of two sections. The section scores are put together and then multiplied by 2. The Selection Index considers scaled scores, which are your math, reading, and writing scores.

The selection index score is used by the NMSC as an initial screening test. A student who has a high selection index is a commended student. The selection index score is specifically related to the national merit scholarship program that grants scholarships to the top-scoring test takers.

What Is a Good PSAT/NMSQT Score for National Merit?

To qualify for National Merit, a student’s total score should be more than 99% of the total scores of other students appearing with them. So, you should fall in the top 1% of the students to qualify for this scholarship.

NMSC recommends 1% of the top-scoring students who take the PSAT every year as national merit semifinalist candidates for this scholarship. Approximately 8000 students who have got a high score are selected for national merit consideration. Usually, students who have a score higher than 1200 qualify for this scholarship.

What is Raw Score?

Raw scores refer to the number of correct questions that test takers get on the PSAT/NMSQT exam. There are three different sections in the PSAT: evidence-based reading, reading and writing, and math. The total score is a combination of the section scores. There are a total of 139 questions in the PSAT, which means that your maximum raw score will be 139.

The raw scores are used to calculate the scaled score report, percentiles, and other metrics of the score report. They are the basis on which the PSAT scoring scale is based. Each section on the PSAT has a score range from 8 to 38. The total score range is from 48 to 228.

What Are Scaled Scores?

Raw scores are converted to scaled scores. They are the standardized representation of raw scores. It is difficult to understand the conversion metrics of raw to scaled as they change from year to year. However, the overall difficulty of the test, the performance of the students who take the PSAT, and the discretion of the test administration i.e. the College Board.

Scaled score ranges from 200 to 800 per section. The total score is a combination of both the math score and the reading and writing section scores. These scores make it easy for colleges to compare the score reports of students who have taken different versions of the same exam. They also help in determining the selection index score.

How PSAT Scoring Works?

PSAT scores range to fall between 320 and 1520. This means that your test score cannot be less than 320 and more than 1520 in your digital PSAT exam. SAT scoring is different from PSAT scoring. It ranges from 400 to 1600. There are no negative marks for incorrect answers.

PSAT is divided into two sections: Math Section and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Section. The Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section is also called the ERBW section. Each unit of PSAT carries 10 points and each subsection has a 160-170 scoring range. Thus, the math section will have a 50% score and the ERBW section will have a 50% score. The total of each section score will form your total PSAT score.

What SAT Score Is the Best for College Admissions?

Usually, a score above 1150 is considered to be a good score. However, most decent colleges ask for a score of 1200 or more. Similarly, the top colleges require a score of 1400 or more. This score is pretty high, and you need to start working on the PSAT test prep from your junior year itself.

PSAT Score Range vs SAT Score Range

The PSAT scores have the same scale as the SAT scores. The minimum score range for the SAT is 400 and the maximum score is 1600. For digital PSAT, the scales are a bit different. The minimum score ranges from 320 to 1520.

Admissions based on SAT Score

What if you have already taken your SAT exam? Check your PSAT scores on the College Board website. Is your PSAT score enough to get you admission to the school of your dreams? All test takers are anxious about getting into the college of their dreams. This can only be achieved if you get high scores and have a consistent academic performance.

However, it is not easy to answer this question. This is because individual colleges ask for different scores on the SAT exams. Depending on the college you are seeking admission to or the subject you are going to opt for, your ideal PSAT score will vary depending on various factors. Let us look at some of the factors that determine a good PSAT score.

Why Is PSAT Score Report Important?

PSAT or Preliminary SAT exams were envisioned by the College Board to give young SAT aspirants a chance to test their skills before appearing for the SAT. Your PSAT score will tell you how well you have prepared for the SAT exam. It will help you take practice tests on areas where you find yourself weak and lagging before you can enter your dream school. Therefore, your PSAT score report is of utmost importance.

How Does Your PSAT Score Impact Your College Chances?

Your PSAT Score Report is a screen test of your academic ability while seeking admission to colleges. Besides making you eligible for national merit scholarships, your scores will also get you through the first round of qualifications set by the colleges. Colleges automatically screen out applicants with a lower Application Index.

Remember, you are competing with a host of other students who are seeking to get selected in the same field and the same college as yours. Although many schools do not rely only on SAT scores, big state schools with a higher number of applicants use PSAT scores as a filter to keep out applications with lower scores.

Colleges want to admit students who show a promise of being able to wade through their rigorous curriculum. Your GPA reading also translates differently from one school to another. Although PSAT scores cannot cover a weak GPA, they prove to be strong support in case there is a lapse in one subject or a lower ranking in certain areas of the GPA.

Finally, if a college has two options with a similar GPA, they will naturally opt out for the candidate that has a higher PSAT score than the other. Hence, you need to prepare well in advance for the PSAT test.