PSAT / PSAT 8/9 Scores

December 7, 2016

To Current Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and their Parents:

We have been informed that current sophomores and juniors will have access to their PSAT score reports beginning Monday, December 12; at the same time current freshmen will have access to their PSAT 8/9 score reports. The College Board will make these scores available with a “staggered release” from December 12-14. Thayer will receive the paper versions of the score reports in the coming weeks and will send those reports on to you along with a test booklet from the October administration of the PSAT or the PSAT 8/9 when those reports arrive.

I include this video, an introductory guide for both students and parents, to explain the process for accessing and understanding the score reports offered by the College Board. To access their scores, students will need to create a College Board account or enter the username and password for an account they have already created.

A few observations: first of all, prospective colleges will not see these scores. The College Board reports these scores only to the student, to the student’s high school, and, for the PSAT, to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which identifies a select few high school juniors with the very highest scores for recognition and possible National Merit Scholarships based on their PSAT scores. [The Corporation will identify qualifying National Merit Semifinalists and Commended Students in September of 2017 based on a student’s “Selection Index”; last year, a student living in Massachusetts needed a Selection Index of 222 or higher in order to qualify as a Semifinalist.] For all students, including freshmen who took the PSAT 8/9 and sophomores who took the PSAT this year, these tests provide useful practice and diagnostics to prepare for the SAT, which most students will take in the spring of their junior year and/or fall of their senior year.

Both the PSAT and the PSAT 8/9 score reports offer a wealth of information. You will find a “Total Score” on a scale equivalent to the current SAT test. The “Total Score” is the sum of the scores from two sections: “Evidence-Based Reading and Writing” and “Math.” For the PSAT, the range for each section is 160-760; the range for the total score is 320-1520. For the PSAT 8/9, the range for each section is 120-720 and the range for the total score is 240-1440.

While freshmen took the PSAT 8/9, sophomores and juniors all took the same PSAT test. The median scores below for Thayer students reflect those different tests and the different possible score ranges for those two tests:

Please note that the full report offers significant information about an individual student’s test-taking strengths and weaknesses. For example, students can see exactly which questions they answered correctly and which questions they got wrong. Further, the “Subscores” section identifies how well a student did in each of various categories of the two PSAT sub-sections. If, for example, a student had a relatively harder time with “Heart of Algebra” or “Expression of Ideas” skills, he or she might find it beneficial to work on those skills in preparation for the SAT. The “Your Scores: Next Steps” section provides advice regarding areas of strength and areas of improvement. Note, too, that the College Board has established a partnership with Khan Academy to provide individualized SAT prep support based specifically on a student’s PSAT or PSAT 8/9 results. These resources could be valuable not just for the SAT. Indeed, mastery of these various skills is closely linked not simply to higher standardized test scores but also to success in a college preparatory curriculum like Thayer’s.

This second short video explains how to link your PSAT report (or, presumably, your PSAT 8/9 report) to Khan Academy and its resources:

Please recognize that for freshmen and sophomores, the PSAT 8/9 and the PSAT are very low stakes practice for a test that will have more significant weight in the future. For juniors who will be taking the SAT next spring, the PSAT is more of a dress rehearsal for the big event coming in the not too distant future.

After you have had a chance to look over this data, feel free to call or email me (mdunne@thayer.org) if you have questions; in the College Counseling office, Thad Robey, Christine Woods, and Nellie Brennan Hall are also available to speak with you about interpreting the results and looking forward to the SAT.

Sincerely,

Matthew Dunne
Upper School Director of Studies