<p>Mikenthemaddog, don't be a pretentious ass.</p>
<p>You say you ARE aiming for a 220 on your PSAT, present tense. Since you've already taken it once, I assume your first score is a sophomore score. First of all, don't feel bad. I got a 187 as a sophomore and then a 213 as a junior with absolutely no PSAT prep in between (This was a mistake, however. I could have gotten above 220 if I had practiced the Writing Skills section.) Your score will probably improve some naturally, just from having another year of math and English. (Plus, your brain will be more fully developed!) To get to a 220 though, you might need to do a little bit of practicing. </p>
<p>If it's the PSAT you really want to prep for, I would aim for the writing, especially. The writing skills section is widely considered to be the easiest section to improve, and on the PSAT, it counts just as much as the other two sections (whether or not the same could be said of the writing skills section on the SAT is debatable.) </p>
<p>First, make sure you know some of the basic grammar rules (subject-verb agreement, parallelism, etc.), then buy some PSAT/SAT prep books and test yourself on them. For the ones you miss, READ THE EXPLANATIONS. Also read the explanations of the questions you weren't sure about. Your score could potentially jump to the 70's if you practice enough.</p>
<p>The Critical Reading is more difficult to improve, for the simple reason that the PSAT nor the SAT recycle very many questions for the Reading section, unlike the Math and Writing Skills. Studying for vocabulary might be worthwhile if you're willing to put forth the time and effort. Usually, you'll only encounter 1-3 vocabulary problems that will give you trouble, but then again, a couple problems can make all the difference for whether or not you make the NMSQT cutoff. Also, studying vocabulary is also helpful for the writing skills section of the SAT, when you'll be able to demonstrate your large vocabulary in your essay (a few good vocabulary words definitely doesn't hurt). For the reading, do the same thing as you did for the writing. Take practice tests, and CHECK WHY YOUR WRONG ANSWERS ARE WRONG AND WHY THE ONES YOU GUESSED ON ARE RIGHT. It's hard for someone to get a really, really high score on the reading unless they're naturally gifted, very well-read, or extremely lucky, but a score in the 70's is doable if you practice.</p>