# PSAT and comparison to the SAT and ACT

**URL:** <https://experthub.prepscholar.com/t/psat-and-comparison-to-the-sat-and-act/7690>\
**Category:** Answers\
**Tags:** psat-scores\
**Created:** [April 11, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://experthub.prepscholar.com/t/psat-and-comparison-to-the-sat-and-act/7690 "2016-04-11T00:17:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![seizetday](https://experthub.prepscholar.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@seizetday](https://experthub.prepscholar.com/u/seizetday)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://experthub.prepscholar.com/t/psat-and-comparison-to-the-sat-and-act/7690/1 "2016-04-11T00:17:59Z")

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Does the PSAT/ NMSF really reflect SAT and ACT? My son received a 660 reading , 580 math, and 230 writing and he has Aspergers that writing has always been a pro rom. Suggestions? BTW, it was taken second week of this year, his junior year.

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**Author:** ![sam\_prepscholar](https://experthub.prepscholar.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@sam\_prepscholar](https://experthub.prepscholar.com/u/sam_prepscholar)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://experthub.prepscholar.com/t/psat-and-comparison-to-the-sat-and-act/7690/2 "2016-04-11T04:11:33Z")

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To answer your main question, **yes, the PSAT is very similar to the real SAT.** The questions have the same format and content, so the only major difference is that the PSAT is a much shorter test. It does a pretty accurate job of predicting future scores on the SAT and ACT. [Students typically improve the equivalent of 50-150 points from their PSAT scores to their SAT scores.](https://blog.prepscholar.com/convert-psat-to-sat-scores-predict-sat-good-psat-score)

However, I'm a little confused about the scores you listed. The new version of the PSAT (which would have been the version of the test your son took last fall) [doesn't have a separate Writing score.](https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/scores/structure) **Reading and Writing are now combined into one score out of 760 points under the label "Evidence-Based Reading and Writing".** The Math section is also out of 760 points, so the total possible number of points you can earn on the PSAT is 1520.

When you mention the Writing score, I think you might be referring to either his Writing and Language raw score out of 44 points or his Writing and Language scaled subscore out of 38 points. **This article has a lot more [information about what constitutes a good score on the PSAT for 2015](https://blog.prepscholar.com/whats-a-good-psat-score-for-2015)** and may help you get more clarification on what the score report means.

**[This article, which provides a bunch of different strategies for improving SAT Writing scores](https://blog.prepscholar.com/how-to-improve-your-sat-writing-score-8-key-strategies), may also be useful for your son if he's worried about that aspect of the test.** Performance on the Writing section will count towards your Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score on the real SAT even though it no longer has an independent section score.