12.Practice.Tests.for.the.SAT_2015-2016_1128p

12 Practice Tests for the SAT / xxvii
You gain one point for each correct answer on the PSAT and lose a fraction of a point (1/4) for every
wrong answer. The exception is Math grid-ins, for which you lose nothing for a wrong answer. You do
not lose any points for questions you leave blank. This is important, so we'll repeat it: You do not lose
any points for questions you leave blank.
Raw Scores
The totals for the Critical Reading, Math, and Writing Skills sections are added up to produce three
separate raw scores. These raw scores equal the number you got right minus a fraction of the number
you got wrong.
Raw score = number right - l /4 x the number wrong
Scaled Scores
Each of your raw scores is converted to a scaled score between 20 and 80. The exact formula for
how this is done is not made public. In 2009, the average scaled score for a Grade 11 student on the
Critical Reading, Math, and Writing Skills components was approximately 47, 48, and 46, respectively.
Selection Index
When you add the three scaled scores together, you get your Selection Index, which ranges from 60 to
240. The average Selection Index for a grade 1 1 student is approximately 141.
Percentile
The PSAT also gives you a percentile, which allows you to compare your scores with those of other
juniors applying to college. A student with a percentile of 63 has earned a score better than those of
63 of every l 00 college-bound juniors who took the test.
PSAT TEST DATES AND TESTI NG SITES
The PSAT is offered every year in mid-October. It is administered at your high school, not at a testing
center. Homeschooled students can sign up at the nearest local high school. Most high schools
administer the exam on a Saturday; some offer it on a Tuesday.
Some high schools recommend that their sophomores take the test for additional practice.
Sophomores who take the PSAT are not eligible to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship unless
they are in an accelerated program and are preparing to graduate the following year. However, some
schools will administer the test to their students only once, in the beginning of their junior year;
thus, students wanting to take it as sophomores would have to get permission from their guidance
counselors.