Hey CC, this coming school year, I will be taking the PSAT as a junior and would like to qualify for National Merit. As a sophomore with little to no prep, i got a 1300 (590 CR/710 M). I was wondering what the best way to study for the new PSAT would be. In addition, I plan on taking the ACT, so I am not looking to study for the SAT past the PSAT, I would just like some study material that could boost be up into National Merit range.
Hi, I’m also taking the PSAT this coming school year. From what I know, the PSAT is designed to be a practice for the SAT, so any SAT prep that you do will help you with the PSAT. There aren’t many PSAT-only prep books, so your best bet would be to take practice tests from practice SATs, even if you don’t plan to take the SAT as of right now. Good luck!
At this point, it’s probably too late for you to pay for an extensive test prep program (most are $1k+ and you probably won’t get enough out of it in time to make the price remotely worthwhile). Seeing that you are much better on math and that most of the challenging math problems require just a little more time to process, what I would do is buy some prep books that familiarizes you with the newer CR and math problems and provides you the optimal way of tackling them in a short amount of time. As long as you put in a noticeable effort into improving your CR score, you should see a 100+ improvement in your PSAT score.
Good luck in October!
@QuVntt @day5200
I think a big misconception is people calling the PSAT a practice SAT. It’s the same company who makes a test with less “difficult” questions. Also, it is used to find the National Merit Scholars. You can use any SAT prep (minus any essay instruction) to prep for the PSAT. Many companies such as PR, Kaplan, Barron’s have already jumped on materials for the new PSAT. The best one that is out right now is:
Barron’s Strategies and Practice for the New PSAT
In August Barron’s is coming out with a full comprehensive book and a 1520 book meant for high scorers. I recommend those books since Barron’s tend to have harder tests which will in essence “overprepare” you for the PSAT.
If you want to prepare for the SAT/PSAT at the same time; the best books IMO are:
-The Critical Reader
-College Panda’s Writing Guide
-28 Math Lessons for the New SAT
For practice tests, you can buy ones from PR or Kaplan. IES test prep also has very good and accurate tests.
Hope all of this helps. Tag me in any question you have in the future.