College Counseling at St. Margaret's

Note from Mr. Allen: I asked my colleague Graeme Brown to pen a guest post to coincide with the release of PSAT scores.

Graeme Brown is the Ivy West Regional Director in the Orange County and San Diego regions.  Graeme is a former Ivy West tutor, professional baseball player in the New York Mets organization, and passionate advocate for college prep tutoring and admissions counseling.  He received his B.A. from Brown University.

 

“I just received my PSAT scores…now what?”  That is a familiar refrain being heard in high schools throughout the country as PSAT scores are returned to students.  For many of the 1.4 million students who take the PSAT each year, this is their initial foray into the world of college admissions tests.  Technically the PSAT test doesn’t count, but that doesn’t mean the results are worthless.  Your PSAT scores can be extremely helpful in determining where you are currently, where you want to go, and how you are going to get there.

The Practice SAT (creatively titled the PSAT) is used for three primary purposes:

1)      To determine the National Merit Scholars.

2)      To offer a practice test to sophomores and juniors in high schools.

3)      To collect marketing data for college and universities.

The National Merit Scholarship program is an academic scholarship competition that uses PSAT results as the initial judging criteria.  Out of the approximately 1.5 million students that take the PSAT annually, 50,000 students (Juniors) with the highest combined index (math + writing + critical reading) are selected as “Commended.”  All “Commended” students are notified of their status and are asked for two colleges that they would like this impressive notification to be sent.  Fast-forward 1 year to your student’s Senior year fall, where a state-by-state index is used to whittle the 50,000 “Commended” students down to approximately 16,000 “Semifinalists.”  Last year in California, that index number was 218.

School leadership will notify students if they have been selected as a National Merit Semifinalist.  Approximately half of the 16,000 students will become “Finalists” by submitting additional SAT test scores, a personal essay, a recommendation from a school official, and an outstanding academic record.  Each of the 8,000+ “Finalists”, notified by letter at their home address, will receive some type of financial reward.  Many of the “Semifinalists” will also receive scholarship money as well.  More info on this process can be found at http://www.nationalmerit.org/

For everyone that takes the PSAT, the scores provide you with an early indicator about your future SAT proficiency.  As the SAT is often an important piece of the college application process, many families will choose to hire a prep company to boost these scores (full disclosure: I work for one such company, Ivy West).  Another option if you’re not happy with your PSAT scores?  Take a practice ACT test.  Some students do considerably better on this other widely-accepted college admissions test.  Furthermore, if test-prep, the ACT, and other measures don’t bring your scores up to your desired level, there are many schools that are now test-optional as well.

First, congrats! Getting through the PSAT is one of the first steps down the road of the college admissions process that, hopefully, will result in you getting into the college of your choice.

The good news about the PSAT (or Preliminary SAT) is that is it mostly *for practice*. It’s a good barometer of where you are right now in terms of the SAT. That’s the best use of the results. And remember, your final chance to take the SAT for college admissions will be in the fall of your senior year, so no matter where you are right now in terms of score, you’ve got time to work on it and get better!

The PSAT is also used as the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship. The National Merit Scholarship program is an academic scholarship competition that uses PSAT results as the initial judging criteria. It’s a very high commendation, with less than five percent of the students who take the test being honored. If you receive word that your scores are eligible, congrats! Your counselors will be able to guide you through the rest of that process (more info can be found at http://www.nationalmerit.org/).

Whether you are eligible for National Merit or not, remember these important facts:

1)      You have time to improve your score.

2)      There are resources out there, such as books or tutors, to help you improve.

3)      Somehow, at the end of this laborious process, students get to go to college. If you work hard and keep that in mind, so will you.