<p>Well, there are actually two things I’ve heard…</p>
<li>The PSATs are all worse-case scenario and are much harder than the SAT; and</li>
<li>The PSATs don’t help at all with the SAT, and the SAT is much harder.</li>
</ol>
<p>I’ve heard mixed reviews of both of these, and I don’t know what to expect for the May 2 SAT?? It’s nerve-racking to me because I don’t do really well on timed tests.</p>
<p>I scored lower on my PSATs than my SATs by a good 8 (or 80) points.</p>
<p>they are the next best thing to real tests.</p>
<p>If you don’t do well on timed tests, then stop thinking about how they are timed. </p>
<p>Instead, chew gum to relieve stress and nerves when you take both practice and real timed tests. When you open the test booklet, just look at the first question. If you guess that you can figure it out in an appropriate length of time (I forget how many questions are being asked in each section and how long you have–maybe you can use up to 2 minutes per question), then promptly do so. If it might take a while, consider skipping it and return to it later. Watch how many you do skip, however, you don’t want to skip too many.</p>
<p>That’s your strategy as you work your way thru the test. Just focus on the test, don’t worry about the time except to decide whether to work the problem or skip it.</p>
<p>See if that approach helps.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks very much for the advice, ivedreamin. I’ll definitely consider that.</p>
<p>And so I presume that the PSAT is actually harder than the SAT?</p>
<p>My projected scores based on the PSAT are the following:</p>
<p>Critical Reading: 470-580
Mathematics: 630-730
Writing Skills: 570-690</p>
<p>Not that impressive, really… But if I try and do well on the SAT and heed some of ivydreamin’s advice, I can aim for the 2000s, especially since looking upon my PSAT answers, I’ve made stupid mistakes… Colored in the wrong letter here, forgot what this word meant, etc. Mainly in the Critical Reading and Writing sections, though; I’m fairly confident in Math.</p>
<p>Really gotta study the Critical Reading. 
I’m still a bit lost; any suggestions where to go for that?</p>
<p>I personally thought the SAT was harder than the PSAT, but with a moderate amount of studying my score still went up significantly. As long as you prepare in between, you should do better.</p>
<p>For CR, the Blue Book was the most helpful preparation for me.</p>
<p>PSAT: 80 CR, 80 M, 68 W –> 228, first try</p>
<p>SAT
760 CR, 780 M, 800 W
740 CR, 790 M, 800 W
740 CR, 760 M, 800 W</p>
<p>SAT is harder.</p>
<p>PSAT was harder for me.</p>
<p>PSAT - 181
SAT - 2210</p>
<p>Arachnotron: Those are very impressive scores… But they’re about the same in both tests.</p>
<p>percyshelley, that looks to be around my score. I just hope I focus and concentrate enough to get about a 2000… That’s my goal.</p>
<p>Really, I just need to read carefully in the CR part and focus on my point in my essay; I’m not the best at writing essays when timed, but I’ll get my point down and stick to it, and hopefully everything will come together.</p>
<p>As similar as they seem the SAT and PSAT are different tests.</p>
<p>Some people perform better on the PSAT some perform better on the SAT.</p>
<p>For me my math and writing scores were higher while my CR score was lower. Everybody will have different results.</p>
<p>For me, CR and writing went up while math went down.</p>
<p>Oct PSAT
70 CR 80 M 73 W</p>
<p>March SAT
790 CR 720 M 800 W</p>
<p>May SAT
TBA</p>
<p>PSAT - 212 (77 CR, 62 M, 73 W)</p>
<p>SAT - 2220 (770 CR, 670 M, 780 W)</p>
<p>PSAT does have a harsher curve because there are less questions…each one counts more. Also, SAT essay can help/hurt you - it did help me. My MC subscore was 73, but my essay was a 12.</p>
<p>PSAT scores are just lower.</p>
<p>my scores were almost identical on the two tests actually… except i went down by 10 points on my SAT Math:</p>
<p>PSAT- 221 (74CR, 67M, 80W)
SAT- 2200 (740CR, 660M, 800W)</p>
<p>I did better on the SAT CR and Writing but worse in Math:</p>
<p>PSAT (08): 224 (77CR, 77M, 70W)
SAT (Mar): 2320 (800CR, 760M, 760W)</p>
<p>I think the general trend is that people do better in CR and W but worse in math. There’s a significant jump in difficult between PSAT math and SAT math.</p>
<p>Much lower on PSATs. I didn’t even qualify for National Merit and my SAT scores are very stylish.</p>