What Is a Good PSAT Score?

There is no pass mark on the PSAT, and colleges never see it. A good PSAT score is one that tells you what you need to know: where you stand among your classmates, how close you are to National Merit, and how far your SAT score is from the one your colleges want.

What each range means for eleventh graders

These are approximations from the shape of College Board's published percentiles for juniors, which shift slightly each year. Tenth graders score a little lower on average, so the same total puts a sophomore higher in their own group.

For National Merit, look at the index

The National Merit Scholarship Program ranks students by the Selection Index: twice your Reading and Writing score, plus your Math score, divided by ten. A 720 in Reading and Writing and a 680 in Math gives 212; a 680 and a 720 — the same 1400 total — gives 208. In recent years the national Commended cut-off has sat roughly between 207 and 212, and state Semifinalist cut-offs have run from about there up to the low 220s.

Your PSAT is a forecast of your SAT

The PSAT and the SAT share one score scale, so your PSAT total is a fair estimate of what you would score on the SAT today. Put it next to the middle 50% SAT range of the colleges on your list and you know how much ground you have to make up before senior year.

Section benchmarks

College Board publishes grade-level benchmarks on the PSAT/NMSQT: for eleventh graders, 460 in Reading and Writing and 510 in Math; for tenth graders, 430 and 480. Meeting them means you are on track for college readiness by graduation. They are a floor worth clearing, not a target for a competitive application or for National Merit.