Hi, I’m going to be a Junior and I was wondering how should I prepare for the PSAT? I want to be a National Merit Finalist and get a scholarship REALLY bad since my school doesn’t have a sports or a music program, but a great academic one. Please, any advice would be great! Thanks!
Did you take the test as a sophomore to gauge your score?
Start simple - buy a PSAT prep book. Kaplan has a good book with helpful strategies. Take all the practice tests you can and see where your score falls. You and your parents might decide that hiring a private tutor is worth it for you; that sort of thing can certainly boost your scores. Pay a lot of attention in your high school math class starting this semester and apply yourself to it. It’s easy to get rusty on math concepts over the summer, and the best reminder is working through a lot of homework.
Lastly, don’t put all of your hopes into this scholarship. Is it a great help at a lot of schools? Yes. Is it the only way to demonstrate your excellency as a student? No. Find ways to get involved in your community and your school. Do what your passionate about. There’s a lot of great schools and scholarships out there for kids who don’t make NMF. Keep your chin up no matter what!
Hi!
So yes, I did take the PSAT as a sophomore. I got a 1350/1520. I don’t think it was my best score since I had the cold that day. A lot of people at my school had scored 1450++ and it got me worried. Thank you so much for the encouragement and tips. Much appreciated!
One advice I’ve heard for prepping for the new PSAT/SAT is to read, read, read, especially non-fiction. My DS’s summer reading assignments are all non fiction and he’s also taking an Intro to Philosophy class at CC this summer which has a lot reading required. I think this class is great prep for the PSAT/PAT because it’s forcing him to critically analyze what he is reading and the author’s intent. This is one of his weaker areas on prior tests.
Look at you what type of questions you missed on the last PSAT and focus on why you missed that them.
Also https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat is free!
I agree with all the above posters! And 1350 is a great score, especially for your first time taking it.
Elaborating on the Khan Academy PSAT prep, all you have to do is link your College Board account, with your PSAT score, to Khan Academy to receive personalized prep, because it adapts to the questions you missed, focusing on them more.
Thank you for the replies so far. I will try to read as much non-fiction as possible. Are there any titles that you guys could recommend to me?
So about the math portion, will there be any advanced concepts on the test? When I took the test, I was clueless with some of the questions. I understood the algebra and geometry questions and some probability. Is there Pre-Calc? Or Calculus? Sorry for all the questions!
Do you think it is worth it to invest in a tutor? My parents are willing to pay for it, but I’m afraid it will be a waste of money if I don’t perform well…
Thank you again!
There might be some Algebra 2 (I remember that there were some concepts that I didn’t understand in the PSAT last year that I hadn’t gotten to yet in my Algebra 2 class), but shouldn’t be much, if any, Precalculus. On the College Board website, it does say that some knowledge of trigonometry might be required, though (although I don’t know to what level). There are more specific concepts listed on the College Board PSAT/NMSQT that are helpful (not sure if I can link to it, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find).
What state are you in? The chances of you winning NMS scholarship vary greatly based on your score and state.
Oh okay I see.
I am in the state of California…
In your other thread you state you are a senior applying to UCs and Ivies. What gives?