- Round Rock ISD tests all sophomores and juniors on a school day at no cost, with students registered automatically; the 2026 date was October 14 [verify].
- Eanes ISD pays for sophomores at Westlake, who are registered unless they opt out; juniors must register and pay, with a window in late August to early September [verify].
- The Texas Semifinalist cutoff was 219 for the class of 2027. In these districts a Semifinalist is competing against the same state line as everyone else, with more classmates near it.
- Scores release in waves from late October into November; some districts tell families to expect them in December [verify]. Check the student’s College Board account first.
- Giant Prep’s PSAT program is waitlist-only for now; the SAT program, which covers the same question types, is open with a free first hour.
If you are an Austin-area parent trying to figure out how the PSAT works at your student’s school, the short version is that the test is identical everywhere and the administration is not: Round Rock ISD gives it to every sophomore and junior on a school day for free, Eanes pays for sophomores and asks juniors to register and pay, and Lake Travis’s procedure is something to confirm with the campus testing coordinator each August [verify]. The Texas National Merit cutoff is the same for all of them.
This page collects the questions we hear most from families in these three districts, with what we could confirm about each district’s process marked and what we could not marked [verify], plus what PSAT tutoring in Austin actually involves. The one thing to take away if you read nothing else: ask the school’s testing coordinator in August how juniors are registered, because in at least one of these districts the junior sitting that counts for National Merit is not automatic.
How each district gives the test
The PSAT/NMSQT is given once a year, at school, inside a window that College Board sets. For fall 2026 the window was October 1 to 30, and each school chose its own day [verify]. Students do not register with College Board themselves; the school or district handles it. Beyond that, the three districts diverge.
| District | Who takes it | Who pays and registers | 2026 date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round Rock ISD | All 10th and 11th graders, school day | District pays; students registered automatically and emailed test-day details [verify] | October 14, 2026 [verify] | Homeschool students register through a separate district form [verify]; accommodations must be approved by College Board in advance |
| Eanes ISD (Westlake) | Sophomores by default; juniors who register | District pays for sophomores, who may opt out; juniors register and pay, with registration running late August to early September [verify] | Not published on the counseling page we found [verify] | Scores announced to families by a December email with a link and access code, per the counseling site [verify]; also loaded to Naviance |
| Lake Travis ISD | Not confirmed [verify] | Not confirmed [verify] | Not confirmed [verify] | Confirm with the Lake Travis High School testing coordinator in August |
The Eanes row is the one to read twice. A Westlake sophomore is tested without doing anything. A Westlake junior, in the year that counts for National Merit, has to register and pay during a window that closes in early September, before most families are thinking about October [verify]. A junior who misses that window may not be able to sit the test at their school. Ask in August.
What the Texas cutoff means in these districts
The National Merit Semifinalist cutoff is set state by state. NMSC allocates Semifinalist places to each state in proportion to its graduating seniors, and the Texas cutoff is the Selection Index at which that allocation is filled. For the class of 2027 it was 219, per Compass Education Group’s cutoff history; the year before it was 222. Our full breakdown is here: /psat/guides/texas-national-merit-cutoff/.
There is no Westlake cutoff or Eanes cutoff. A junior at Westlake, Lake Travis, Round Rock, Westwood, Vandegrift or Anderson needs the same number as a junior in Lubbock. What differs locally is how many classmates are near it. Westlake High School reported 33 Finalists in the 2025-26 National Merit program [verify], which puts dozens of students in a single building at or above the Texas line in a single year. That density has two effects on a family’s thinking.
It makes National Merit feel ordinary, which it is not: Semifinalists are under one percent of U.S. seniors. And it makes the gap between Commended and Semifinalist feel like a difference of personality rather than preparation, when in fact it is usually two or three Reading and Writing questions. The Selection Index doubles Reading and Writing, so one miss there costs two index points, and the Texas line sits in exactly the range where two points decide it.
When scores arrive and what to look at
College Board releases PSAT/NMSQT scores in waves, with the first in late October and later waves in November, depending on when the school submits its testing materials [verify]. The student’s College Board account shows the score the day it releases. School emails follow, sometimes weeks later; the Eanes counseling site tells families to expect a December email [verify]. Do not wait for the email.
When the score appears, look past the total. The full score report PDF has the Selection Index on its second page under an NMSC heading, and that is the number that matters for National Merit. The online portal also breaks performance down by content domain, which shows where the misses concentrated. For a sophomore, the Selection Index subtracted from 222 (our Texas planning target) is the gap the next eleven months have to close. Our sophomore guide shows how to read it: /psat/guides/sophomore-psat-score-what-it-means/.
For a junior, the October score is the entry. There is nothing to do with it until September of senior year, when NMSC sends Semifinalist lists to schools, except to make sure a confirming-score plan exists and the activity list is current. Our Semifinalist checklist covers that year: /psat/guides/semifinalist-to-finalist/.
The local timeline, sophomore October to junior October
Families in these districts tend to have a particular calendar: a demanding course load, spring sports or fine arts, summer travel, and a school year that starts in mid-August. The PSAT plan has to fit it. Here is the shape we use for an Austin sophomore aiming at the Texas line.
| When | What | Local note |
|---|---|---|
| October, sophomore year | PSAT/NMSQT at school | Free and automatic in Round Rock and Eanes [verify]; confirm in Lake Travis |
| November to December | Score released; Selection Index gap computed | Check the College Board account; do not wait for the district email |
| February to April | Diagnostic (full-length, proctored, hand-scored) and target split; begin the Reading and Writing templates | Spring break is a good week for the diagnostic |
| June to mid-August | Weekly sessions and proctored tests; the sixteen-week plan: /psat/guides/summer-psat-prep-plan/ | Travel weeks are fine if the proctored test moves, not disappears |
| Late August to early September | School starts; in Eanes, juniors register and pay for the PSAT [verify] | Put the registration window on the calendar in May |
| Mid-August to early October | Weekly proctored tests, hard-module work, taper | School-year sessions move to evenings or weekends |
| October, junior year | PSAT/NMSQT, the sitting that counts | Round Rock’s 2026 date was October 14 [verify]; get your school’s date in August |
The start-in-spring recommendation is not arbitrary. It gives the student the summer to practice the question types rather than learn them, and it keeps the heavy weeks out of the first month of junior-year school, when course loads in these districts are at their heaviest.
What PSAT tutoring with us involves
We teach the PSAT as a scholarship test, which means the plan is built backward from the Texas Selection Index line rather than forward from a generic curriculum. PSAT-only tutoring is waitlist for now; most families with a National Merit target work through the SAT program, which is open, uses the same question types, and starts with a free first hour.
From there, one tutor for the whole program, weekly proctored full-length tests with line-by-line review, and sessions online on a shared whiteboard or in person in Austin. The hand-scoring is the part families cannot easily replicate: sorting every miss on every proctored test by type, so that by August the plan is a short list of named question types rather than “more practice.” A student whose misses are concentrated in transitions, boundaries and inference is a student whose score can move quickly. The diagnostic exists to find out whether that is the student in front of us. We also say, in the debrief, when the Texas line is not a realistic target, because a family in these districts has usually already paid for something that did not move the number and does not need to do it twice.
Rick’s note: the most common thing I hear from a Westlake or Lake Travis parent is some version of “everyone here does this, so we assumed the school had it handled.” The school handles the test. Nobody at the school is handling your student’s Selection Index gap. That is the whole job.
Questions we hear most, answered briefly
Does the sophomore score go on anything? No. Colleges never see PSAT scores, and the sophomore sitting does not enter National Merit. It is information.
Should a sophomore opt out? Only if there is a specific reason. The free proctored diagnostic a year before the sitting that counts is the most useful thing the district gives a National Merit candidate, and opting out throws it away.
Is the district’s own PSAT prep enough? District resources, including Bluebook practice and the free online tools College Board partners with, are good for familiarity and content review. They do not hand-score, set a Selection Index target, or weight the plan toward Reading and Writing. For a student aiming at the line, those are the missing pieces.
What if the student is sick on test day? Tell the counselor immediately. NMSC has an alternate entry process for juniors who miss the school’s test day, and it has to be started promptly with documentation [verify]. It is not automatic.
Is it too late to start in September of junior year? Not too late to help; too late for the full plan. Six weeks can fix pacing, careless errors and the two or three highest-miss question types. It cannot build what a summer builds. More here: /psat/guides/psat-october-is-not-practice/.
What to do this week
- Email the high school’s testing coordinator with the four questions: this year’s PSAT/NMSQT date, whether juniors are registered automatically, the registration window and fee if not, and how scores are released. In Eanes, confirm the junior registration window [verify].
- If your sophomore tested in October, log into their College Board account rather than waiting for the district email, open the full score report PDF, and find the Selection Index on page two.
- Subtract the Selection Index from 222. That is the gap for the next eleven months. Decide whether it is a spring start or a June start.
- Put the junior-year PSAT date, the registration window if any, and the planned diagnostic week on the family calendar now. In these districts the fall fills up by August.
- If the family has already paid for a class or an app that did not move the score, write down what it covered. The diagnostic debrief will tell you what it missed, and that is usually where the plan begins.
Questions people ask
Does my sophomore have to register for the PSAT?
It depends on the district. Round Rock ISD registers all sophomores and juniors automatically for a school-day test at no cost [verify]. Eanes ISD pays for sophomores at Westlake and registers them, with an opt-out, while juniors register and pay themselves [verify]. Lake Travis ISD’s current procedure should be confirmed with the high school’s testing coordinator [verify]. Ask in August, not October.
When does my student get PSAT scores?
College Board releases scores in waves, with the first in late October and later waves in November, depending on when the school submits its materials [verify]. Scores appear in the student’s College Board account before any school email. Some districts, including Eanes, tell families to expect a December email with a link and access code [verify]; the account is usually faster.
Is the Texas cutoff higher for Westlake or Lake Travis students?
No. The Semifinalist cutoff is set by state, not by school or district. A Westlake junior and a junior in El Paso both need the same Selection Index (219 for the class of 2027). What differs locally is the density: schools like Westlake produce dozens of Semifinalists a year, so the student has more classmates right at the line, which is useful for perspective and useless for the cutoff.
Do you tutor in person or online?
Both. Online on a shared whiteboard, or in person in Austin. Proctored practice tests are run under exact timing either way, and the hand-scoring and debrief work the same on a screen as across a table.
Why is there no free first session for the PSAT?
Because the first thing a PSAT plan needs is a full-length proctored diagnostic, hand-scored by question type, and a one-hour debrief that turns the Selection Index gap into a section split and a week-by-week plan. That takes longer than a free hour and it is the product. Students who continue to admissions testing in the spring keep the same tutor and the same error log.