# Questions from the PSAT's
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 23, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563 "2002-10-23T18:45:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/21 "2002-10-24T17:52:28Z")
The way I remember in (in 89) was that you had somewhere between an 20 & an 80 for verbal somewhere between a 20 & an 80 for math (to get the associated SAT score, you multiplied them by 10). And your PSAT score was two times one of the scores added to the other score - but I don’t remember which score got doubled.
This may have changed in the past (wow, it’s been that long) 13 years.
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### Author:  [@Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook_of_the_North_Shore)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/22 "2002-10-24T21:48:09Z")
I must be either remembering the associated SAT score or my actual SAT score. I never payed that much attention to it, except to regret I didn’t prepare for it. I’m sure if I had spent any time at all studying before hand I could have broken 1500, if not perfected it. Ah well. Like they always say, if I knew then what I know now and all that.
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### Author:  [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/23 "2002-10-24T22:35:28Z")
Found [another site](http://www.brainevent.com/be/Amy_Senioritis/20000914/show_journal_or_toc) – it looks like a personal site (so take it with a grain of salt), but it has a description of scoring from someone who apparently took the PSAT recently:
> [@](#):
>
> The PSAT is a little different and kind of weird. Your composite score will be made up of your math, verbal, and writing scores. The individual scores can be as high as 80, which means the composite can be up to 240.
This is corroborated by [this high school’s site.](http://www.orange.k12.oh.us/depts/ohs/guidance/testing.html)
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2002, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/24 "2002-10-25T18:26:26Z")
I’ve found my PSAT score sheets (what a trip down memory lane _that_ search was!), and I’m more confused than ever.
For my junior year (1985), I see Raw Scores (56 verbal, 38 math), Scaled Scores and associated percentiles (66 verbal, 99th; 63 math, 94th), and a Selection Index and it’s percentile (195, 99th). I’m going to have to assume that’s the score that is comparable to the 200-level scores being mentioned by others.
I have _ **no** _ idea where that 1520 came from. I see that my last SAT score was in fact a paltry 1250. I’m going to have to guess that over the years, my mind, unable to cope with that poor showing, transposed two numbers into something I could be more proud of.
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2002, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/25 "2002-10-25T19:18:19Z")
KtK, you’ll be happy to know that your old SAT scores would be converted to a higher score since they changed the test:
(Assuming a 680 verbal and 570 math):
New Math: 580
New Verbal: 740
New Total: 1320!
From: [http://www.greenes.com/html/convert.htm](http://www.greenes.com/html/convert.htm)
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2002, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/26 "2002-10-25T19:59:11Z")
Cool, **Munch**! My SAT score went up 50 points in 1996 to 1440 and I didn’t even realize it! I wonder if my employer would have cared?
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### Author:  [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/27 "2002-10-26T00:24:58Z")
Nanook:
Either you are not nuts, or we both are :eek:
I remember the PSAT as being scored exactly like the SAT. Two sections (Math, English), with the highest score being 800 each for a total of 1600. This would have been 1978 or 1979.
I scored out at 1350, which was good enough for a Merit Scholarship back in the 8-Track days 😉
My actual SAT score was lower, 1275 IIRC. Of course, by then, I was drinking beer…
–jack
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