The PSAT and
you
October 17, 2012
Richmond Hill HS
So you now have taken
the PSAT
• What does it all mean?
What is the PSAT,
anyway?
• PSAT is the short form of Preliminary SAT. It is also
known as NMSQT or National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test. The test acts as an opportunity for
practice for the SAT Reasoning Test. Besides, you
can qualify for the National Merit Scholarship
Corporation (NMSC) scholarship programs on the
basis of the exam.
Does Taking PSAT help
you?
Yes, taking PSAT is definitely helpful to students. It
becomes more important for you to take the PSAT if
you are contemplating taking the SAT for college
admission. The key benefits of taking the PSAT are
PSAT Benefit One
• It assists you in preparation for SAT. The test items in
PSAT and SAT are similar and hence PSAT can
qualify as an excellent opportunity to practice for
SAT.
Benefit Two:
• The exam helps as a self-evaluation tool. You
understand what your weak points are and can
concentrate on those. Moreover, understanding
what your strong points are helps you make the
most of them.
Benefit three:
• You get an idea of where you stand in competition
with other SAT aspirants owing to the reporting of
percentiles in PSAT.
Benefit four
• You can avail the opportunity for entering programs
for scholarships. PSAT acts as an initial screening of
aspirants for some scholarship programs
Benefit five
• You can sign up for Student Search Service and
hence get information from colleges about their
admission and scholarship programs.
What does the PSAT
measure?
• The exam tests students for the knowledge they
have gained and the abilities they have developed
through years of education. The basic skills required
for successfully completing college level education
are evaluated in PSAT. However, the pattern of
PSAT is such that recall of precise details is not
required
The exam puts a figure on
three main skills
Critical
Reading
Math
problemsolving
Writing
Understanding PSAT
Scoring Procedure
• Initially, raw scores are calculated and then they
are converted to scaled scores for each section.
The scaled scores range from 20 to 80.
Tell me more…
• To calculate the raw score, each
correctly answered question is given
one point. All the questions are rated
equally. An incorrect response will
result in a negative ¼ point; except for
grid-ins. Unanswered questions do not
have any negative impact on the raw
score.
More on scoring…
• The raw scores are converted to scaled scores
through a method called equating. This is done to
equalize any difference that might exist between
tests administered on different dates in different
years. Hence, equating makes scaled scores
comparable.
Features of PSAT that are
useful to Colleges and
Students
• Percentiles are given on the score report for each
section. Juniors and sophomores can compare their
performances with other juniors and sophomores.
This gives them an understanding of where they
stand at a national level.
Percentile? What’s a
percentile?
A test score in and of itself is usually difficult to
interpret. For example, if you learned that your
score on a measure of shyness were 35 out of a
possible 50, you would have little idea how shy
you are compared to other people. More relevant
is the percentage of people with lower shyness
scores than yours. This percentage is called a
percentile. If 65% of the scores were below yours,
then your score would be the 65th percentile.
More about PSAT Scoring
• Students are given information about their
weaknesses and related suggestions for
improvement in the Score Report Plus under
‘Improve Your Skills’.
You will get your score report in a several weeks.
How does this help me?
• The score report includes a complete review of the
answers including the correct answer, your response
and level of difficulty for each question is given in
Score Report Plus. This helps students understand
their performance.
Do colleges see my score
• Please note that your actual PSAT scores are not
sent to colleges. They do not use the results of this
test to determine eligibility for admission. Colleges
do not look closely at PSAT scores
So this is why you took
the PSAT today
to receive feedback on your strengths and weaknesses on skills
necessary for college study. You can then focus your preparation on
those areas that could most benefit from additional study or practice.
to see how your performance on an admissions test might compare
with that of others applying to college.
to help prepare for the SAT. You can become familiar with the
kinds of questions and the exact directions you will see on the
SAT.
to receive information from colleges if you checked"yes" to Student
Search Service.