PSAT vs. SAT

<p>I'm a sophomore right now and I took the PSAT in October on which i got a 176. Decent score I guess since I didn't study at all. I'm obviously going to be taking the PSAT again in October so should I buy a book specifically for the PSAT or an SAT book such as the Blue Book? What kind of improvement should I expect if I study around an hour a day until October?</p>

<p>Just get an SAT prep book, since you’ll be taking the SAT next march/may/june anyways.</p>

<p>Do they even make PSAT prep books? Just get an SAT prep book because the type and formats of the questions are the same, the format of the test itself is the main difference</p>

<p>If you actually put that much time into practicing, then you should see a significant improvement, but it’s hard to maintain that kind of motivation after a while</p>

<p>Princeton Review - I thought it was more thorough and comprehensible than the Collegeboard blue book.</p>

<p>Go for an SAT book, because PSAT lacks some components of the SAT.</p>

<p>They do actually make PSAT prep books - insanity, isn’t it? I’ll second everyone else to just invest in SAT materials. I’d advocate getting the blue book for sure, since it should be your only source for practice questions. But you’ll also want a book for strategy, and I agree that Princeton Review is pretty good.</p>

<p>There is NO reason though for you to be putting in an hour a day starting now. You’ll burn out in a couple of months. Leave it alone until the summer, then start putting in a few hours a week. It’s really best to do the bulk of your prep in the summer since you can focus without the distractions of the school year. However, I would definitely recommend getting started on vocabulary now. That’s a process best done over months (or years). Good luck!</p>