Is '43' a decent score for someone that has taken the PSAT in 10th grade?

Question

I took Algebra 1 in Freshman year and I'm taking Geometry this year.

my critical reading was '62'; writing skills '51'

Answer 1

That isn't horrible. Your score will come up considerably when you take the SAT junior year. You will know your Geometry and your Algebra 2 by then. Look at your percentile score that they gave you in the report to determine if your score is good.

Answer 2

NOTE: The PSATs now consist of three part (Writing Skills, Reading Comprehension and Math) that each contribute up to 80 points, for a total of 240. (You can put an "invisible" zero on the end of each and think about it on a 2,400 scale, which is what the NEW SAT is now. Three parts with point totals up to 800 for each, for a total of 2,400, not the old 1,600 scale.)

43 on what? On the math part of the test, as in 43 out of 80? No, that isn't beginning to add up to a very good total score. Meaning, if you got a 43 on each of the three components, then you'd have a 129 out of a possible 240 for a total score, or something like an 860 out of 1600 on the old scoring system. That's not to say that you wouldn't get into a college with those scores, but...

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, you should begin to buckle down and focus on your schoolwork immediately, AND take the next year to work on your PSAT prep. If you can't afford an outside course, buy the Barron's, Princeton Review or Kaplan PSAT review guides and get to work learning how to approach the tests, when to guess/when not to guess, timing tips. Take practice tests, etc.

Sign up at www.collegeboard.com and register to recieve the SAT Question of the Day. Answer it daily and learn from your mistakes.

You will take the PSAT again in fall of your Junior year, then you will move into the SAT after that...most likely in March of your Junior year to start. You can take it a couple/few times if you need to, but -- depending on what your college goals are -- you really do need to start working on this now. Again, focus on your schoolwork as well as your PSAT/SAT prep.

Both are necessary to keep you on track/goal.