On the whole there are no huge changes on the October Writing Test.
However, there are a few small tweaks …
Compared to the average of the 10 Official Tests in the College Board Book/available online (#2 & 4), the October Test had
2 more punctuation questions - matching a growing importance placed on punctuation
1 more grammar question (consistently of plural vs singular or verb tense)
1 more graphic question
0 - we call them grab bag questions — those questions that test grammar rules - but rarely (e.g. subject vs. object pronouns or idioms)
3 questions that ask about main ideas of paragraphs and/or passages; this question is a newly emerging trend.
On the whole there were no great changes - but rather some minor shifts.
The October SAT Reading Test had no major surprises:
Questions that ask about details in the passage, but you have to search for them remained outsized, matching their growing significance.
Evidence, line reference, main idea, and graphic questions remained consistent.
Last week we got to make a trip to Cambridge/Harvard Business School - for a wonderful opportunity to talk with some really kind folks about what we are doing here in greater JAX! And because we were without kids - it was also a date! Thank you to everyone who has been so supported of us! We so appreciate it! It has been quite a journey!
All grammar (including punctuation) and editing paragraphs questions both were presented in the usual ways and at similar frequency as previous tests.
Editing sentences - which normally appear on average in 13 questions (December 2018 we had 20 questions) - appeared in but 7 questions on June ACT.
As we gear up for the test this weekend - is seems that a focus on Punctuation continues to pay off!
Here’s what we saw: a lot of normal!
Questions that ask about a detail in a passage you have to search for — 19 questions. The average on all publicly available tests is …. 19 (April 2019 had 17).
Questions that ask about a detail in the passage and give a line reference — 9. The average on all publicly availably tests is … 10 (April 2019 had 13).
Questions that ask about the passage as a whole — 9 questions. The average on all publicly available tests is … 8 (April 2019 had 13).
Questions that ask about vocab — 2 questions. The average on all publicly available test is … 3 (April 2019 had 3).
All in all the test had no major surprises! Let’s hope the July is similar!
For the last two years, 1470 on the PSAT has been enough to get NMS in Florida, meaning top 1% PSAT scores.
The actual number associated with national merit is a composite of the 3 (Reading, Writing, and Math) sub scores (out of 40) x 2. This means each section counts equally - whereas for your PSAT score - Math is given the same weight as a combined Reading and Writing score.
In short - for National Merit - Verbal (reading & writing) counts for 2/3 of your score!
E.g. Reading 38 + Writing 37 + Math 37 = 112 x 2 =224
So the actual cut off number is usually in 216-219 range for Florida.