PSAT

Taking The PSAT

The PSAT is the Practice SAT test and is something that most high school students will take. The PSAT is taken solely as practice and doesn’t count towards any college admissions but how a student does on the PSAT is a good indication of how they will do on the SAT so the PSAT is still taken very seriously. PSAT scores can indicate what areas students need extra help in to prepare to do well on the SAT. Getting a low PSAT score doesn’t mean that a student will necessarily do poorly on the SAT but it’s a helpful tool to identify subject areas in which the student needs extra prepation.

The setup and testing format of the PSAT is almost identical to the SAT so that students can become more familiar with how the SAT test will be run.

Preparing For The PSAT

Students are encouraged to prepare for the PSAT the same way they are encouraged to prepare for the SAT. There are lots of great websites that have practice PSAT tests, sample questions, tips on test taking and studying, information on how to analyze PSAT scores, PSAT average scores for different areas of the country, PSAT scores from past years before 2006. 2007 PSAT scores are not available yet. The PSAT website also shows students and parents how to interpret PSAT scores and helps them understand what the average PSAT score means and how to use a child’s PSAT results to figure out what areas the child might need extra tutoring in before that child takes the SAT. Students usually don’t need to do extensive and sometimes expensive prep work for the PSAT although certainly it’s never a bad idea to be as prepared as possible. The PSAT is not as important as the SAT, so parents who don’t have a lot of money might want to save money for tutors to help with the SAT and not the PSAT.

Doing Poorly On The PSAT Is Not The End Of The World

If a student does poorly on the PSAT it doesn’t mean that student won’t get into a good college or that the student isn’t capable of doing college level work. Many students do poorly on the PSAT the first time they take it. The PSAT is a practice test. Analyzing the student’s results from the PSAT can be a great way to know what areas that student needs extra help in so that they can get high SAT scores. The PSAT should be seen only as a preparation tool for the SAT, not as anything more serious than that.