In order to lower the ceiling even more, the PSAT 8/9 maxes out at 1440 (720M/720RW) while the PSAT/NMSQT maxes out at 1520 (760M/760RW) as compared to the SAT max of 1600. This actually makes it harder for 99+ percentile kids to score in the 99+ percentile because when you lower the ceiling, many more students hit it and careless errors and luck of the draw become a factor. If DC's talent search SAT scores are already in the 1500 range, then it is impossible to reach that score on the PSAT 8/9 and a potential toss-up whether you will on the PSAT/NMSQT. I mentioned luck of the draw because on an easy PSAT, a single missed problem can subtract 10 or 20 points from the maximum score (the actual PSAT 8/9 DS/DD took last fall).
We received our girls' PSAT 8/9 scores the other day, and now I better understand this "luck of the draw" and careless error situation. While they both scored in the 99 percentile they each did not get perfect scores; DD13 forgot to answer one, and DD14 misunderstood how many questions there were and had to rush through the end of the test causing her to miss 1 or 2. Just one missed question caused the score to go down 10 - 20 points mentioned by Quantum2003.
So here is my question - do kids need perfect scores to get National Merit recognition? DD13, while a DYS'er, just isn't wired to jump through the hoops to get to perfection on a test. DD14, our overachieving girl, does not need the pressure to get that perfect score.
