Best Books/Methods to Study for the PSAT

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Alright everyone.</p>

<p>I received a 199 on my PSAT in my Sophomore Year. With the PSATs quickly approaching for real in mid-October, I want to make my NMS cutoff, which, I estimate is going to be somewhere between 211 and 216, depending on whether it goes up or down or stays the same (I live in Indiana). I feel like I'm at that sort of echelon where the normal practice books that teach you guessing strategies don't help. I've always been an A student. I'm taking five APs this year and have only received fives on the ones that I've taken so far (USH and CS).</p>

<p>I have an innate inability to standardized test well. For instance, I received a 740 on the SAT II in Math II (retaking in November, I think) and a 770 in USH, but only after an extreme amount of work. So, I have to work really hard at the PSATs.</p>

<p>Right now I have the Kaplan book and I've been doing their practice tests, but the grading curve seems really generous. Like, 44 raw on Critical Reading comes out to like a 75. So, what book(s) should I pick up the next time I head to the store? I really want to do well. I have the extracurriculars and the GPA to get me into a top-tier school, but I need the Standardized tests, which, up to this point, haven't been all that amazing.</p>

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<p>There’s no use for studying for the PSAT, study for the SAT instead. It’s basically the same thing, just with an essay. For practice tests, don’t use anything besides CB material. (there are also previously administered PSATs on the CB website for purchase if you feel like you absolutely need to test on PSATs and not SATs)</p>

<p>Math: Grubers (all the math concepts, strategies)
Writing: Rocket Review and <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html?highlight=academichacker+essay+days[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html?highlight=academichacker+essay+days&lt;/a&gt;
CR: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/750399-how-attack-sat-critical-reading-section-effectively.html?highlight=critical+reading+effectively[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/750399-how-attack-sat-critical-reading-section-effectively.html?highlight=critical+reading+effectively&lt;/a&gt; and buy Direct Hits vol 1+2 (for vocabulary)</p>