How to Use This PSAT Calculator
- Choose your test: PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, or PSAT 8/9. The score ranges update to match.
- Enter your Reading and Writing score and your Math score from your College Board score report.
- Read your total score. On the PSAT/NMSQT you also get your National Merit Selection Index.
How Is the PSAT Scored?
The digital PSAT/NMSQT and PSAT 10 use the same format as the digital SAT: 98 questions (54 in Reading and Writing, 44 in Math) in about 2 hours and 14 minutes, with two adaptive modules per section. There is no penalty for wrong answers, so answer every question.
Each section is scored from 160 to 760 on the PSAT/NMSQT and PSAT 10, and your total is the sum of the two, from 320 to 1520. The PSAT 8/9 uses a lower scale: each section runs from 120 to 720 and the total from 240 to 1440.
This calculator uses your section scores, so the total is exact. It does not estimate section scores from questions correct, because the College Board does not publish a fixed raw-to-scaled chart for the adaptive test.
PSAT Score Formula (With Examples)
Total score = Reading and Writing score + Math score. For the PSAT/NMSQT, Selection Index = (2 × Reading and Writing + Math) ÷ 10.
- Reading and Writing 600 + Math 650 = a total of 1250 and a Selection Index of (1200 + 650) ÷ 10 = 185.
- Reading and Writing 700 + Math 700 = a total of 1400 and a Selection Index of (1400 + 700) ÷ 10 = 210.
- Reading and Writing 740 + Math 720 = a total of 1460 and a Selection Index of (1480 + 720) ÷ 10 = 220.
PSAT and National Merit
The PSAT/NMSQT is the entry point for the National Merit Scholarship Program, and only juniors who take it are considered. Semifinalists are chosen state by state from the highest Selection Indexes, so the cutoff differs depending on where you live and changes every year. Compare your index with your own state's cutoff once it is announced, usually in September of senior year.
PSAT vs. SAT: What Is the Difference?
The PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT measure the same skills in the same digital format. The PSAT tops out at 1520 instead of 1600, and colleges do not see your PSAT scores. Use the PSAT as a low-stakes baseline: your score shows which section to work on before you take the SAT.
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Raise Your Score Before the SAT
After you get your PSAT score report, review the question types you missed. Upload your practice test notes to TikoNote and it turns them into flashcards and quizzes so the same mistakes stop repeating.