The PSAT: What Rising Juniors and Sophomores Need to Know

Each fall, the College Board administers the PSAT, which doubles as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). As a rule, students take the PSAT/NMSQT in their high school in their 10th and 11th grade years, with their 11th grade score determining whether they qualify for National Merit.

A note before we start: typically, we advise that only high-scoring juniors do PSAT prep, as a high PSAT score can lead to National Merit recognition. A score below the National Merit Commended Student threshold (more details on this below) will likely not affect a student’s college or scholarship prospects one way or the other.

2024 Administration

The PSAT will be administered in October. Schools that give the PSAT during the school day can do so from October 1-31, and schools that give the PSAT on a Saturday can do so on October 12 or October 26. (Note that October 26 is also a national ACT administration date, so students will want to check their school’s PSAT administration date if they are also planning to take the October ACT.) Unlike the SAT and ACT, students can only take the PSAT once in their junior year.

Last fall, for the first time, the PSAT was both digital and adaptive, rather than paper-pencil. The SAT followed suit in March 2024, and both tests are essentially the same now, though the questions on the PSAT may be a little easier.

Digital: Bluebook App

Students take the digital PSAT on the College Board’s Bluebook app, which has several helpful features:

• Allows students to mark problems they want to go back to, annotate passages, and cross out answer choices
• Is equipped with Desmos, a highly sophisticated graphing calculator that many students are already familiar with (though students can use their own calculators and/or scratch paper if they prefer)
• Saves students’ progress and stops the timer in the event of an internet or power outage, allowing students to pick up where they left off
• Prevents students from opening web browsers or other applications to search for correct answers
• Is more secure and less vulnerable to cheating, as each student receives a different exam

To take the test, students will need to use a device that is compatible with Bluebook. Here is a list of acceptable (and non-acceptable) devices from the College Board:

• Windows laptop or tablet
• Mac laptop
• iPad
• Compatible desktop computer in a school computer lab
• A Chromebook can only be used if it is managed by the school; otherwise, Bluebook will not work
• Students cannot take the PSAT on a mobile phone

Because they take the test in school, many students will likely use a school-provided device.

Adaptive: By Section

The digital PSAT includes a Reading/Writing section and a Math section. Within each section,  students take two modules. They start with the Reading/English section, where the first module contains a mix of easy, medium, and hard questions; each question has an associated difficulty level. Depending on their performance on the questions on the first module, students will advance to an easier or harder second module, which will broadly determine their score range. After a short break, they do the same with Math. The following table shows the structure and timing of the test.

Reading/Writing	54 questions (27 per module) 64 minutes (32 per module) 1:11 per question
		Math	44 questions (22 per module) 70 minutes (35 per module) 1:35 per question

All told, the PSAT takes a maximum of 2 hours, 14 minutes. 

Not all students will take the digital, adaptive exam. Though Bluebook does provide an extended time option, students who receive certain accommodations may still take a “linear,” non-adaptive, paper-pencil PSAT.

Scoring

Most students are familiar with the top scores they can achieve on standardized tests: 36 on the ACT, 1600 on the SAT. The PSAT works a little differently. While there is a maximum score (1520 – 760 on Reading/Writing, 760 on Math), what’s more important for National Merit purposes is the Selection Index, which is the score the PSAT uses to determine National Merit eligibility. To calculate the Selection Index:

1. Divide each section score by 10.
2. Multiply the Reading/Writing score by 2.
3. Add the Reading/Writing and Math scores to get the Selection Index (maximum of 228).

So, the Selection Index for an example student who scored 1400 overall, with 720 in Reading/Writing and 680 in Math, would be calculated as follows:

1. Reading/Writing score: 72. Math score: 68.
2. New Reading/Writing score: 144.
3. Selection Index: 144 + 68 = 212.

Because the Reading/Writing score is doubled, students with stronger verbal abilities have an advantage. Here’s the Selection Index for the same composite score of 1400 but with the Reading/Writing and Math scores from the previous example flipped:

1. Reading/Writing score: 68. Math score: 72.
2. New Reading/Writing score: 136.
3. Selection Index: 136 + 72 = 208.

For each section, there will be overlap in scores between the highest scorers in the easier second module and the lowest scorers in the harder second module. However, if a student lands in the easier second module, they will not be able to attain the maximum score of 760; their score will be capped somewhere below that.

National Merit Qualification

While many 10th graders and nearly all 11th graders will take the PSAT, the exam’s purpose may feel a bit opaque. Students may know that PSAT scores are used to determine whether they qualify for National Merit, but the different levels of recognition and chances of getting an actual scholarship through the program might be confusing. We’ll try to provide some clarity here. 

There are several score cutoffs along the way to receiving a National Merit Scholarship.

1. The first level of recognition is National Merit Commendation. Approximately 50,000 PSAT-takers reach this level or beyond, with about two-thirds (34,000 or so) receiving commendation. The cutoff for the Class of 2025 (the rising senior class) is 208, up one point from the previous year. However, Commended Students are not eligible for National Merit Scholarships.
2. Approximately one-third of Commended students (historically, about one percent of all PSAT-takers) qualify as National Merit Semifinalists. This level of recognition is determined on a state-by-state basis, meaning the threshold for qualification in Wisconsin is different than it is for students in New York or California or Wyoming. (These state-level thresholds do not apply to students at boarding schools, who are grouped with other boarding school students in their region of the country.) For the Class of 2024, Wisconsin’s Selection Index threshold was 213, which was similar to that of prior years; the threshold score for the Class of 2025 will be released in September. While it is possible the threshold will change slightly from year to year, it has hovered right around 213 for the past several years, so that should be a reasonable target score. Commended students and Semifinalists are notified of their status around the beginning of their senior year, when the official cutoffs are announced.
3. Semifinalists then have the opportunity to become National Merit Finalists and be considered for a scholarship. There are three major requirements for Semifinalists: 1) fill out the National Merit Scholarship Application, 2) maintain consistently high academic performance, and 3) take an SAT or ACT to “confirm” their PSAT performance. Nearly all Semifinalists go on to become Finalists, but less than half of the Finalists will receive one-time National Merit Scholarships of $2,500. There are also Special Scholarships available, which are sponsored by corporations or colleges; these range from one-time payments of $2,500-$5,000 to renewable awards or stipends of $500-$10,000 per year.

More information on program requirements and scholarships can be found in this year’s official PSAT/NMSQT student guide. The eligibility requirements begin on page 31, and the list of scholarships, with criteria and corresponding monetary amounts, starts on page 38.

So, to sum up: to qualify for National Merit Scholarships, students must 1) clear the Semifinalist Selection Index threshold, 2) submit an application to become a Finalist, and 3) be selected as a Finalist. Even without a scholarship, though, the various levels of National Merit recognition can bolster college applications. 

Alternatives

These levels of recognition (Commended, Semifinalist, Finalist) represent the standard path to National Merit recognition. However, there are two other ways to achieve it.

1. Alternate Entry. Students can attempt to qualify for National Merit if they were unable to take the PSAT (for example, if they were sick on test day) by submitting an SAT score instead. The Selection Index through Alternate Entry works the same way as with the PSAT, but the SAT section scores are capped at 760 (instead of 800) to match the PSAT’s scale.
2. College Board National Recognition Programs. These programs allow students who are African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous/Native American, attend school in a rural area or small town, or are first-generation to achieve recognition based on their PSAT (or AP) scores. This link lists the criteria required to attain such recognition. These are not scholarship programs, but as College Board states, “students who receive recognition will earn a certificate for this academic honor and the opportunity to be celebrated by their school community.” Colleges may also reach out to qualifying students with scholarship opportunities.

Conclusion

A strong PSAT performance can both enhance a student’s college applications and lead to a merit scholarship. Rising juniors who took the PSAT last year and believe their score may qualify them for National Merit recognition, as well as students with high ACT/SAT scores, might want to familiarize themselves with the requirements of the National Merit program and application process. Additionally, any sophomores with high scores on this fall’s PSAT might want to consider spending some time preparing for the PSAT next year. Please reach out to us with any questions about preparing for the PSAT or about how students can use their PSAT/NMSQT scores to their advantage in college applications!