Junior year’s been hectic but I managed to get a 1330 on my PSAT. I’m wondering, is this score high enough or should I be trying to improve it for next time? What score range should I be aiming for to be competitive?
Hello there! A 1330 on the PSAT is a strong score—congrats on achieving it amidst a hectic junior year! This score would place you above the 90th percentile nationally, which means you've scored higher than most of your peers taking the test.
However, 'competitive' can mean different things depending on the context. For instance, if you're aiming for National Merit recognition, you'll want to check the Selection Index cut-off scores for your state from previous years to get a sense of where you'd need to be. While these cut-off scores can vary, unfortunately you probably aren't quite in that range, as they're usually in the mid 1400s at least.
Regarding the next time you take this test, remember that the PSAT is actually a one-off test. The next standardized test you take will be the real SAT, or the ACT if you prefer. If you take the SAT, you're clearly already set up to do well, so how much you try to improve depends on which schools you want to apply to. Highly selective colleges will be looking for exceptional scores, which means you'd want to be right around 1500 at least on the actual SAT (which remember is scored out of 1600, not 1520 like the PSAT). Check out the middle 50% of SAT scores for accepted students at your top choice schools, and base the amount of studying you do off how you compare.
Good luck!
CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.