<p>Hey everyone! The PSAT is a few months a away, but I thought it would be great if we collectively got together and shared how we are currently preparing for the exam (if your not already preparing your're lucky you found this thread).</p>
<p>So with a 99% overall percentile, most of us become eligible for the National Merit Scholarship. The scholarship is only worth $2500 (maybe even more), but can really help us get into our dream college. However, this involves doing REALLY well on the PSAT. </p>
<p>Thus, the purpose of this thread is for all of us test-takers to come together and share prep techniques, test-taking techniques, or just any advice that could help us all during the test.</p>
<p>So just share what you know and you'll learn even more! </p>
<p>The PSAT is worth almost nothing when it comes to college admissions. Being a National Merit Finalist does not stand out. I don’t find the test an accurate predictor of SAT scores either - I scored a 168 on my first PSAT and a 2100 on my first SAT. Spend your time and effort doing well in school so that your GPA is up to par with what top schools are expecting. </p>
<p>You are right indeed, but preparing for the PSAT is basically preparing for the SAT (which I can GUARANTEE colleges do look at). Additionally, while studying for the SAT (and therefore PSAT) I don’t find an extra $2500 scholarship harmful. As for the GPA, 4.0</p>
<p>The PSAT is not an accurate preditor of SAT scores and it doesn’t make a difference in college admissions, but it does in some way help you prepare for the SAT.</p>
<p>I’m studying about an hour a day. I just did some writing questions. I’m doing them without a time limit for the moment because I just started, and I got 12/12 (4/4 and 8/8) on identifying sentence errors, 10/11 (3/3 and 7/8) on improving sentences, and 16/17 (6/6 and 10/11) on improving paragraphs. I’m happy, but I spent a LOT of time musing over some of those questions, so I really need to start thinking more quickly…</p>
<p>For anyone curious, I’m going to be a sophomore in the fall, and I got an 1850 on my March SAT.</p>
<p>Studying for the PSAT is a good way to make sure you don’t procrastinate on studying for the main event (the actual SAT). I was dismayed when I scored a 175 on my sophomore year PSAT, but that pushed me towards studying throughout the summer. I managed to score a 219 on my junior year PSAT and a 2230 on my actual SAT. </p>
<p>While being a national merit finalist isn’t going to get you into Harvard, it does help slightly in admissions and also could get you a little scholarship, so why not go for it? I laud you for starting early on your studying. Good luck. If you have any questions about the PSAT or the SAT in general, feel free to ask on here or just PM me.</p>
<p>@alihaq717: How did you study for the P/SAT? Assuming you used the blue book, did you read through all of CollegeBoard’s tips on how to answer the questions correctly, or did you just go straight to the practice tests? How long did it take you to start to be able to answer a good amount of questions in the time limits (25/20/10 minutes)?</p>
<p>Well the first thing I did was look through all the questions I missed on my PSAT sophomore year. However, you are a sophomore, so unless you took the PSAT freshman year you won’t be able to do this. But what you should do is definitely take the PSAT sophomore year. It really helps taking a test in actual testing conditions (under the same pressure + environment) and it produces more accurate results than simply taking practice tests will produce.</p>
<p>When looking through the missed questions, I asked myself exactly WHY I got them wrong. Before looking at the answer, I attempt to do the problem first again. If I arrive at the same incorrect answer, I know that it was flawed reasoning that led me to that answer. If the second time around I get the right answer, then I know it was an issue with timing or simply making a dumb mistake. It is very important to understand why and how you get questions wrong, and then correcting yourself in those regards.</p>
<p>Also make sure to attack your worst section aggressively. My worst section was reading, in which I scored an abysmal 52 on. I did the most practices in this section and I also started to read more books and magazines. I also bought a vocabulary book. On my Junior PSAT, I scored a 70 in reading (a 18 point improvement) and a 730 on my SAT (a 210 point improvement). As you can see, I was highly successful in my practice, and it goes to show that practice does make perfect (or near perfect, in my case).</p>
<p>As for how long it took me: I started seeing huge improvement near the end of my summer/into the beginning of junior year, so it took me roughly 3 months to improve. I didn’t study everyday though, I took a practice test once every few weeks.</p>
<p>I’m a rising sophomore also, and I’ll be studying for the PSAT through the SAT Question of the Day email. Haha. I took the PSAT last year and scored a 171.</p>
<p>I’m just studying for the SAT, and then maybe do some tiny bit of PSAT questions from the last two I took, and take it (SAT study will kill both). And I’ll also be taking the October SAT, so it all works out As for studying:
-Reading Direct Hits over and over (once they come in the mail that is…)
-Practice Tests from Blue Book, beginning untimed then regular timed, then slowly taking minutes off
-Essay Research (Examples to use) but this won’t be on the PSAT
-Barron’s Grammar Workbook (once that also comes in the mail)</p>
<p>And besides that… I have a lot AP Summer homework :(</p>
<p>I beg to differ. Junior PSAT Writing I got a 50. Few months later with absolutely no studying I got a 730. Now, I can’t say I tried hard on the PSATs, but I didn’t slack it. Most people that I have seen have had large gaps between PSAT and SAT scores. I think for some it is accurate and some it isn’t.</p>
<p>I agree with silverturtle. The question types and formats on PSAT are almost (if not completely) identical to those on the SAT. If you can handle PSAT questions well, you’ll do very well on the SAT.</p>
<p>As for studying, I think doing practice questions is your best preparation. That, and reading newspapers and magazines.</p>
<p>@Frantic- I’m basically doing what your doing dude…definitely not wasting my summer studying for the psat. Besides, I have summer hw, aps and volunteering to keep me busy.</p>
<p>I agree with silverturtle and pi that the PSAT will give you a good indication of what the SAT will be like. As NewAccount mentioned, though, a bad (or even a good) PSAT score does not always coincide with what you will actually receive on the SAT.</p>
As for studying: