If your school offers the October PSAT/NMSQT to 10th graders, the short answer is yes — take it. It won't count for National Merit, but it's the closest thing you'll get to a dress rehearsal for the junior-year test that will. Here's why, when to skip it, and how to turn the score into a plan.
No. National Merit only uses the PSAT/NMSQT you take in 11th grade. If you're a sophomore sitting the October 1–30, 2026 PSAT/NMSQT, your score is practice: it isn't used for National Merit, and colleges don't see it.
That's exactly what makes it valuable. You get a full, official, real-conditions attempt at the test with nothing on the line — one year before the same test decides National Merit for your class.
It's the real test, a year early. The PSAT/NMSQT is digital and adaptive, delivered in the same Bluebook app as the SAT. Sitting it once under real conditions — the proctor, the timer, the harder second module — takes most of the surprise out of junior year.
You find out your National Merit gap now. Plug your sophomore score into our Selection Index calculator and compare it with your state in our state-by-state cutoff table. A 12-month runway is enough to close a big gap; a few weeks usually isn't.
The score report tells you what to study. Your report breaks results down by skill, so you're not guessing which Reading and Writing or Math areas are costing you points.
Sophomores often have a second option: the PSAT 10, which schools give in the spring (typically March–April). The two tests are the same format, difficulty, and 320–1520 scale — so the question is really when you want your practice run.
| October PSAT/NMSQT | Spring PSAT 10 | |
|---|---|---|
| When | October 1–30, 2026 | Spring (typically March–April) |
| Counts for National Merit? | Not for sophomores | Never |
| Best for | The earliest baseline — the most time to improve before junior year | A checkpoint after a semester of prep |
| Test-day feel | Identical to the junior-year test, same time of year | Same format, different season |
If your school offers both, the October test gives you the longest runway; the spring PSAT 10 then shows whether your prep is working. For a fuller comparison, see which PSAT to take.
Your school doesn't offer it to sophomores. Then the spring PSAT 10 is your practice run, and a full-length PSAT practice test at home in the fall gets you most of the same baseline.
You've already taken the SAT. An official SAT score is a better baseline than a PSAT, and you can convert between them with our PSAT to SAT score converter.
It would cost you a key school commitment. It's a practice test — if it collides with something that matters more, a timed practice test at home is a fine substitute.
Fall 2026 PSAT scores come out in waves between October 22 and November 12, depending on when your school submits answers (see the release dates). When yours arrives: