<p>Hi, We had not thought that S would be able to take the PSAT this October, but now he can. He is a junior and has never taken it before. Although we know this "doesn't count," it would be nice if he could go into it somewhat prepared. Help!!! There's not a lot of time (and there is a lot of schoolwork) between now and the PSAT. How would you recommend preparing in this limited period?</p>
<p>Either Princeton Review or Stanley Kaplan would appear to have an 8 hour total, two day review (not cheap) over the next two weekends. Recommended?</p>
<p>Is there a particular review book or website that could be used?</p>
<p>Taking the PSAT as a junior counts a LOT for the National Merit Scholarship. But I don't recommend any particular prep course. Just doing the sample PSAT that you should be able to get from the high school counselor's office under timed conditions could easily be enough prep.</p>
<p>Will he be in the range of NMSF, if not, I will not worry too much about doing any preparation for PSAT. PSAT's main purpose is to give students a chance to familiarise themself with SAT I type of test. He can use the result of the test to identify his strength and weaknesses.</p>
<p>Please know that the PSAT DOES count as a Junior, in fact it is the only PSAT that does count toward National Merit qualification. If he is only taking it to preview/prep for the SAT then his potential score for the NM program will not matter to you.</p>
<p>As the previous posters have said - the PSAT as a junior is the only one that does count for anything. Scoring high enough on it may make him eligible to be a National Merit Scholar which can mean a lot of money if he goes to a school that offers money to National Merit Finalists.</p>
<p>Ditto everybody.
I tutor for various tests, and the only scenario when my help is requested to prepare a junior for the PSAT is shooting for a NMS.
Just for the comfort sake get at school the Offficial Student Guide to the PSAT/NMSQT, read "Prepare for the Test" section and take a practice test in a pull-out booklet. Want more preparation? -ask around for the previous years' copies of the test. You can order them on collegeboard.com, but I don't know how long it takes for them to make it to your anxious mailbox. :)</p>
<p>My take on this is a little different. Doing well on the PSAT as a junior opened up a world of possibilities for my son that he never would have considered. In addition to NMSF, he started getting tons of mail from schools he wouldn't have even thought about before, multiple storage boxes of stuff. Literally hundreds of e-mails. He has narrowed his list down but it was fairly helpful to have the information sent to us. He used a prep book, can't remember which one, maybe one from the College Board? He basically took two or three practice tests from that and got a 232.</p>
<p>Junior year PSAT scores are sometimes used for awards/scholarships other than National Merit. In Maryland scores are used (along with GPA) to determine state "Distinguished Scholars" who receive 3,000/year to attend any school in the state. The cutoff is lower than National Merit.</p>
<p>I wouldn't waste money on a prep course. Just pick up one of the national publication, such as Princeton Review, Kaplan, Barrons, etc., and have son take some practice tests at home. And, then review ALL of the answers, including the ones he got correct to look for CB patterns.</p>
<p>Also, see Xiggi's prep advice under teh SAT thread-subheading. Xiggi is spot-on, IMO.</p>