<p>Anybody have good suggestions on how to do this? I want to become a semifinalist (I'm a loser, yes I know). I consistently score a 2050 on PR's 11 New SATs. My stupid math writing mistakes kill me. As does the sentence completions on the Critical Reading.</p>
<p>a 2050 eh? lol, that was my actual score on the PSAT/NMSAQT this year (58 CR, 73 M, 74 WS)! A 205 isn't that bad; it SHOULD meet commended criteria (from what I hear)...but you want to be a semi, which is great! I wanted to meet the same goal, but Critical Reading killed me (or, as you say, the stupid mistakes on the math/writing skills killed me... if I would have gotten 80s in both M and WS, I would have gotten a 218...above PA's cut-off). However, I can almost guarantee I would have not done nearly as well as I did if it weren't for my nearly 1.5 months of practice for the test, mainly using PR's Cracking the New PSAT/NMSQT book. I enjoyed the book and completed one of the two practice tests found at the back of the book. It was pretty accurate for my actual scores in October --- most/all scores on the practice test came within like 4-6 points of my actual scores.</p>
<p>If CR is your weak spot, practice^3 w/ reading passages and their following questions AND try to memorize the "hit parade" list of vocab words in the PR book... this, of course depends on what your strengths/weaknesses are. Vocab is definitely a weak spot for me, and I should have begun to memorize the list earlier this year, rather than waiting for September to do that.</p>
<p>Practice the math and writing. I would not skip these sections in the PR book, b/c it just preps your mind for what "format" of math and writing questions they are going to ask you. I know that PR did wonders for me on writing skills. They told me exactly what the CB looks for when they write the test, and so I knew what to look for when I took the test. WS is the easiest section if you know exactly what you're doing.</p>
<p>Good luck! All I can say really is... practice, practice, practice! I'm sure most here will agree with that.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice setzwxman, I appreciate it. I'll go out and buy the new PSAT/NMSAQT book from PR. If anyone else could also give me their 2 cents it'd be great.</p>
<p>BTW my scores have been (690 W, 680 CR, 680 M), I live in Michigan where the cutoff was 210 last year.</p>
<p>I definitely agree with the idea of lots of practice. Prep books are amazing.</p>
<p>So is the PSAT/NMSAQT book from PR enough? Or, should I get some more books?</p>
<p>Hm. Personally, I never just buy one prep book ... why not go for the College Board Official Guide to the New SAT book? Or you could get the Kaplan book, or specific Critical Reading workbooks and such ... </p>
<p>The thing is - the number of books you need depends on how often you use them. I need a good number of prep books because I am constantly practicing and I often run out of practice sets (of course, I set aside the CollegeBoard book to do the full tests in, in one sitting, and I haven't had the chance to really do that). </p>
<p>If the PR book has enough practice for you, then I suppose it is "enough", but if you finish it and want more practice (or feel that you should raise your score more), I definitely recommend getting more books.</p>
<p>just out of curiosity how'd you do on your psat lavenderdream?</p>
<p>236.
... 80 M, 80 CR, 76 Writing.</p>
<p>Sad because I got an 800 on the SAT II writing earlier that month.</p>
<p>jesus... genius</p>
<p>@setzwxman: a score of 205 will make/not make it depending on the state he/she lives in. In my state, last year's cut off was 220, and for the most big states, is was more than 210.</p>
<p>Anyway, I'd recommend prepping as you would for the SATs and the SATIIs. If the PSAT is changing in accordance with the new SAT, you could practice for both at the same time. </p>
<p>Oh, and I got the exact same score as lavenderdream (80 M, 80 CR, 76 Writing) and also got an 800 in writing despite my PSAT grade.</p>
<p>makes sense....
with all these high scores, i feel inferior</p>