PSAT Improvement

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>I scored a 189 on the PSAT my sophomore year with no study. That's 69 CR, 58 M, 62 WS. Not terrible, but not great either. I consider myself very smart, but I'm not the world's best test taker. My thinking is usually accurate, but not concise, and my retention could be better. I also struggle with fairly bad test anxiety. My goal for this years PSAT is greater than 214, as that is the cutoff for NMSQT finalist in the state of Florida. Therefore I need a 25 point increase, and from perusing the threads that seems pretty reasonable with dedicated study. What do you guys think? Please be honest with your scores; It seems everyone on here gets a 240 now days lol. Also, so far for review I am using the PR book and Barron's SAT Math. I plan on getting the Blue Book later this summer. Any other recommendations? I figure I will start memorizing vocab in early June, start working on math in late June, and go full on review from August to October. How long do you think it would require to get a good review of all areas with some extra focus on math?</p>

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<p>@hesstech To start you should take a timed practice PSAT test making sure anything you had to guess at is marked in some way. I received very sage advice from a poster here on CC to only worry about the questions you guessed or missed. When you are scoring your practice test, divide the questions into “got it” “guessed it” and “missed it” Don’t waste time on the questions you already know, figure out why you had to guess and really spend time learning the concepts of the problems you missed. You also needed to know that the questions are ordered from easy to difficult on the test. You should not need to spend much time on the questions at the beginning of the test, if you find that you are running out of time at the end, you may not know the concepts in the easy questions as well as you think you do.</p>

<p>After you identify your weak areas then, look at resources specific to those areas rather than general books. Take as many real practice test as you can and really take the time to learn from your mistakes. I’m not a big fan of memorizing vocab for the sake of a test. Try to actually read good books, it will help both your reading comp and your vocabulary.</p>

<p>To be honest, I feel a little silly posting this as it’s just a summary of what I’ve read on CC many times and this is very similar to a post I made recently.</p>

<p>Here are the resources I have picked for my kids to to study for the PSAT (and SAT)</p>

<p>General:
CB’s Blue Book $18 <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/The-Official-SAT-Study-Guide/dp/0874478529/”>http://www.amazon.com/The-Official-SAT-Study-Guide/dp/0874478529/&lt;/a&gt; (if you only use one resource this is the one!)
Kaplan SAT flash cards $15 <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1609781120/”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1609781120/&lt;/a&gt; (easy to take with you anywhere - d has them with her now while backpacking in CO)</p>

<p>Grammar (writing section):
The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar by Erica Meltzer $30 <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1492353299/”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1492353299/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Math:
PWN the SAT: Math Guide by Mike McClenathan $28 <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1481883348/”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1481883348/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Critical Reading:
The Critical Reader by Erica L. Meltzer $35 <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1479224715/”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1479224715/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Honestly though, I don’t think it’s so much which books you study from as much as it’s about HOW you study. Just working through the practice tests, either real tests or sections in a book, without really understanding why you are missing a question won’t do much good. BTW, you can likely find these books cheaper used or in a library for free.</p>

<p>Disclaimer: I am only a mom (albeit one who is obsessed with the PSAT at the moment), not a professional; this is what is working for my kids but ymmv. My kids need 219/220ish in TX, be thankful you live in FL and not CA or NJ. I do think you can make your target score if you really try and put the time into it.</p>