psats - good scores? orr whaat? i have no idea!?

Question

im not sure where my psat score sheet is exactly (haha) soo im doing this from memory. please bear with me!

i got 99% percentile for the first section (cant remember what its called, reading and things i think?) with a 75 i believeee. for math it was like 85% percentile, like 69 correct questions i believe. writing was my best, it was 99% percentile with something like 78 questions right. my overall percentile was 96%, and my overall score thing was 199.

not sure what this means. im a sophomore and i will be taking them again and will probably do much better on the math (not too happy about those scores!). i would love for someone to tell me realistically what these scores MEAN in the real world. im not a grrrreat student, i just got my report card recently and it was like two As and two B+s (we have block scheduling and so, only 4 classes). im typically an A-B student, sometimes straight As. id really appreciate college recommendations and that type of thing.

THANK YOUUUU!

Answer 1

Standardized tests quite honestly mean nothing in the "real world," but the a good PSAT score next year can mean cash for college. A 199 is pretty good for a sophomore, and you will only need to improve about 20 more points next year to qualify as a National Merit Semifinalist. Colleges clamor for Semifinalists, so this could help you get into the college of your dreams. Also, if you manage to become a National Merit Scholar (you have to write an essay and perform well in school and on the SATs), you can win a National Merit scholarship of $2000. Furthermore, the PSATs are a shorter version of the SATs, so use your PSAT performance to gauge how you will perform on the SATs (add a 0 to the end of your selection index).

Answer 2

It's not what you know, it's who you know. Make sure you keep in contact with family members who work in a field you are interested in.