Making Sense of PSAT Score Percentiles

Hi all, just got my PSAT scores back, feeling really confused about the percentile part. Can someone break down the PSAT score percentiles for me? I want to understand how well I did compared to other students who also took the test.

Sure, I'd be happy to break that down for you. The percentile of your PSAT score tells you what percentage of students you scored better than. For example, if you're in the 90th percentile, that means you scored better than approximately 90% of test-takers.

It's important to remember that the PSAT isn't graded on a curve, meaning your score isn't directly affected by how others performed on the test. Instead, the percentiles are based on a representative sample of students, and can vary slightly from year to year.

There are two types of PSAT percentiles: the User Percentile - National, and the User Percentile - Your Grade. The User Percentile - National lets you see how your scores compare to students in your grade as well as other grades who took tests in previous years. On the other hand, the User Percentile - Your Grade is useful to see how you did compared only to other students in your grade level.

Both are designed to give you a sense of how your scores stack up against those of other students. However, it's essential to remember that these are just one aspect of your performance. The actual scores you received, and your score improvements over time, are also important things to keep in mind.