Enter your PSAT section scores (each 160–760) to get your total and your National Merit Selection Index.
| Input | Result |
|---|---|
| EBRW 650, Math 700 | 1350 / 1520 · Selection Index 200 / 228 |
| EBRW 720, Math 740 | 1460 / 1520 · Selection Index 218 / 228 |
| EBRW 500, Math 520 | 1020 / 1520 · Selection Index 152 / 228 |
A PSAT score report gives you two things that look similar and mean completely different things. The total score out of 1520 tells you how you performed. The Selection Index out of 228 is the only number the National Merit Scholarship Corporation uses, and it deliberately weights the two sections unequally.
| Test | Section range | Total range | Feeds National Merit? |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSAT 8/9 | 120–720 | 240–1440 | No |
| PSAT 10 | 160–760 | 320–1520 | No |
| PSAT/NMSQT | 160–760 | 320–1520 | Yes, this is the qualifying test |
Only the PSAT/NMSQT counts for National Merit. A strong PSAT 8/9 in ninth grade is useful practice, not a qualifying result.
The formula is Selection Index = (2 × Reading & Writing + Math) ÷ 10, which runs from 48 to 228. The doubling is not arbitrary: the PSAT's Reading & Writing section draws on two domains (reading comprehension and writing/language conventions) while Math is one, so the weights reflect the amount of content being sampled.
The practical consequence is that Reading & Writing marks are worth twice as much toward National Merit as Math marks with the same point value. Two students with the same 1300 total can have Selection Indexes nine points apart:
| Reading & Writing | Math | Total | Selection Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| 700 | 600 | 1300 | (1400 + 600) ÷ 10 = 200 |
| 600 | 700 | 1300 | (1200 + 700) ÷ 10 = 190 |
| 680 | 620 | 1300 | (1360 + 620) ÷ 10 = 198 |
Same total, different outcome. If National Merit is a goal, Reading & Writing is where the marginal mark is worth most.
Roughly 1.3–1.5 million students take the PSAT/NMSQT each year. The competition runs in stages, and each stage uses a different cutoff:
| Stage | Approx. numbers | How the cutoff is set |
|---|---|---|
| Commended Students | ~34,000 | A single national Selection Index cutoff, around 207 in recent years |
| Semifinalists | ~16,000 | Top ~1% in each state, so the cutoff varies by state, roughly 207–224 |
| Finalists | ~15,000 | Semifinalists who submit the required application and meet academic standards |
| Scholarship winners | ~7,600 | Finalists selected by the corporate and college sponsors plus the national pool |
Cutoffs change every year with the cohort, and state cutoffs are announced only after the test is scored. Treat the ranges above as orientation, not as a target, the official state cutoffs are published by NMSC in the September following the test.
You can take the PSAT/NMSQT in both tenth and eleventh grade, but only the eleventh-grade sitting counts for National Merit. If you take it twice, only your junior-year result is eligible, a strong sophomore index does not carry forward, and a weak one does no damage.
Because the PSAT is built on the same blueprint as the SAT, your section scores are a reasonable forecast of where you would land on the SAT a few months later, usually within about 30–60 points per section. That makes this page useful as a planning tool as well as a Scholarship-Index checker: use the SAT score calculator to see what a full-length total would look like, and the SAT score predictor if you have raw practice-test answers rather than section scores.
It is the score National Merit Scholarship Corporation uses to set state-by-state Semifinalist cutoffs each fall.
The PSAT is slightly easier than the SAT, so its sections top out at 760 instead of 800, giving a maximum total of 1520.