<p>I probably will cause I want to qualify for National merit stuff but I mean at schools where they make all the kids take it and the notion is that the PSAT is just a practice SAT, do people just wing it and take it with no prep?</p>
<p>In my view, it is a waste of time to study for the PSAT unless you are indeed going to try to get a national merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Otherwise, better not to study, and see what your “true” score is.</p>
<p>i think itd be better to just take it cold as a sophomore and prepped as a junior</p>
<p>I took it cold sophomore year, saw my score, and have prepped accordingly for junior year’s PSAT. I don’t plan to study for the SAT separately. My PSAT studying should be enough for both tests.</p>
<p>I took it cold as a Freshmen. However I dont study for PSAT, I now prep with SAT.</p>
<p>Kill two birds in one shot.</p>
<p>Like shachwhiz, I didnt prep sophomore year, saw my true score, and having been prepping for the SAT (and therefore the PSAT) for my junior year. Im also going for National Merit.</p>
<p>Erm, schachwhiz, wouldn’t it be smarter to study for the SAT rather than the PSAT. </p>
<ol>
<li>Colleges look at the SAT, not the PSAT (Aside from National Merit)</li>
<li>The SAT is longer and you need to practice endurance on it whereas the PSAT is way shorter.</li>
<li>The SAT has an essay portion whereas the PSAT does not.</li>
</ol>
<p>@Mariolee
I know that the SAT’s more important. The SAT and PSAT are effectively the same test, but the former is a bit longer and has an essay. Endurance isn’t a problem for me. The PSAT date is about 6 months before my SAT date. I know I’ll have very little time to prep during the school year, and any essay prep I do now will probably be wasted. My practice for that will come in the form of in-class essays that I know my teachers like to give. So I think my studying is fine.</p>
<p>Freshmen year - 180
Sophomore - 182</p>
<p>I didn’t study either time, but hey, I improved! 2 points, but I improved xD</p>
<p>The only PSAT prep that’s worth it is SAT prep (while potentially avoiding some aspects of math that maybe haven’t come up in curriculum yet), in my opinion. Vocabulary especially is tough to “cram,” so in that regard I think it’s important to start early.</p>
<p>I likes kaplan. Except the dumb mistakes they made throughout the book.</p>
<p>But heck my freshman score was 142, now it’s like 199 (kaplan)</p>
<p>I’m studying for it but I’m using the SAT prep books since they are close to the same test</p>
<p>Im studying for the psat…mainly the math though. I took it cold sophmore year and got a 203…junior year i wanna try for NMF…and get somewhere around a 215</p>
<p>Good advice thanks guys!</p>
<p>The PSAT score is what you need for National Merit Scholarships. If you have a chance to take SAT beforehand (Duke Tip Scholarship for example) it will help. Pre-study can increase your chances of success.</p>