<p>I'm heading into my sophomore year and am planning on taking the psat this year and junior year. Because the sophomore year psat is just to get an idea of where I am should I study for it or just see how I do without preparation?</p>
<p>Also, if I were going to take a prep course should that be done the summer leading up to it or earlier in my sophomore year so I can use the tips I learn while I study for it?</p>
<p>I really appreciate any and all responses, and if anyone has anymore helpful PSAT tips those would also be greatly appreciated. =]</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about the prep course until the summer. Use your extra time during this school year for extracurriculars and focusing on your work now.</p>
<p>I didn't study for my Sophmore PSAT at all. It's just not a big deal.</p>
<p>I am studying right now for my Junior PSAT/SATs though.</p>
<p>Don't waist your time studying for it. Worrying about that next time. I'd see what you get without any preparation. I got a 136 my sophomore year. I obviously I needed improvement I definately have.</p>
<p>To quote a friend of mine:</p>
<p>"The PSATs are like the Baby Gap. They don't matter as much."</p>
<p>XD</p>
<p>Hmm, well, it depends on your goals.
If you want to use PSAT solely for a diagnostic of future SAT, assess weaknesses, just take the soph PSAT, if you do good, no worries, study during the summer for SAT junior year. If you do bad, you have time to do better!</p>
<p>If you want to get National Merit, I'll tell you what I did/am doing...I familiarized myself with the test, so I wouldn't just blow it being nervous, and looked over the sections of the test/directions. Then I did pretty well (218!) so I relaxed, looked over my weak point in math. now, I'm taking a prep course in the summer for the SAT, but honestly, I would suggest to not even take a course. They mostly just SLOWLY read the directions, and really seem to deflate your scores just to get a "guarantee of raising 200 points"...</p>
<p>most of all, don't stress. The more you stress, the worse you do. Also, my best tip is just to be semi-panicked, but don't feel like you need to do every problem 100% if that makes sense.</p>
<p>personally, i don't think it's worth it to take a prep course for the PSAT. it doesn't really count towards college decisions unless you're aiming to be a national merit scholar and get scholarship money. last year as a soph, i didn't study for it and got a 188. now, i am preparing for it (i'm using PR review book) and using last yr's PSAT as a guide on what i need to work on.</p>
<p>if you really want to prepare as of right now for the PSAT (and more importantly the SAT), i suggest reading to expand vocab.</p>
<p>As a sophomore, you don't really need to study for the PSAT. It might be helpful to look over the types of questions so you're not surprised on test day, but I don't think you need to study until junior year if you want to get National Merit Scholarships.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all your advice it really helped! =]</p>
<p>I think it is worth studying for because in my case it came in handy to have a strong PSAT score when I decided to apply for summer camps of which quite a few asked for a standardized test score, you don't need to take a prep course but it would be wise to buy a couple of books and study them to see how well your able to prepare yourself.</p>
<p>I didn't. </p>
<p>It might be an good indicator of where you truly stand in terms of what you know until this point. There's always time to prep for it later.</p>