The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT-NMSQT, or more commonly just the PSAT) is an introductory version of the SAT (which is no longer an acronym), generally taken by high school students in either their sophomore or junior year. While it is generally quite similar to the SAT, there are a few key differences. The biggest difference, at least for many students, is that they don’t think the PSAT matters much.
We can’t blame the students for this. High school students have many priorities, and another standardized test doesn’t seem that important, especially when the scores do not directly impact their college acceptance chances, like the SAT or ACT. In this article, we’ll explore what the PSAT is, why it matters, and whether it’s worth you spending time to prepare for it. Let’s get started!
What is the PSAT anyway?
The PSAT is organized and administered by the College Board just like the SAT, with verbal and math sections. Just as the SAT has moved to a new digital form, so too has the PSAT. The PSAT takes just as long as the SAT, asks questions on similar topics, and has the same overall format and questions.
Unlike the SAT, it is not offered throughout the whole year, but only in October, and only through schools which have partnered with the College Board. These schools then decide which students will take it, and when. It is therefore up to your own school whether you take the PSAT at all, and whether you will take it as a sophomore or a junior. Taking the test as a junior is slightly more popular, as this lets you qualify for the National Merit Scholarship (which we discuss in more detail in the next section).
Most high schools will have you take the PSAT during the school day, as part of a planned test taking day for whichever grade is doing it. This may be a half day where you get to leave early, or may be planned around your other classes. This depends on your own school and district, and each handles the process slightly differently.
Why Should I Take the PSAT?
You aren’t alone in asking this question; it occurs so often that College Board has an entire webpage devoted to its answer. The simplest reason is that it really isn’t your choice; you will take the PSAT if your high school is one of the schools partnered with College Board, and otherwise, you likely won’t.
Of course, that’s not really a reason why you should care about the PSAT, just why you should take it. To be clear, we think you should care about the PSAT, and doing well on it is very helpful for many students. There are two main reasons why: practice for the SAT, and the National Merit Scholarship.
The first is, of course, to practice for the SAT. Preparing for the SAT is often a long process, and one of the most difficult parts is properly simulating the test-taking experience. While you can approximate it at home, it’s impossible to really capture the feel of taking the SAT without doing so. The PSAT gives you exactly that.
This makes the PSAT a golden opportunity to see how prepared you are for the SAT, what kind of progress you’ve made if you’ve already begun studying, and what, if anything, you still need to work on. Because of when you take the PSAT, you will also have plenty of time to study and prepare for the SAT based on what you learn from taking the PSAT.
More notable is the National Merit Scholarship. This scholarship is offered to many students each year, and the primary qualifier is how well you perform on the PSAT. The scholarship is open to US students who take the PSAT and who get a score that places them in the category of semifinalist.
The needed score depends on your state; the top 50,000 highest scoring students in the country are given the rank of “Commended.” Of these, around 16,000 are chosen as semifinalists. These are allotted to different states based on the percentage of graduating seniors in that state from among the total test takers; thus there are more semifinalists from Texas than from Oklahoma.
If you are chosen as a semifinalist, then you must apply for the scholarship, including an essay, a description of your activities, a copy of your grades, and a letter of recommendation. The scholarship committee uses these to select the finalists. There are 2,500 $2,500 scholarships awarded, plus additional scholarships awarded by colleges and institutions which have partnered with the National Merit Scholarship, and which also use the PSAT as a qualifier.
This is valuable not just for the scholarship money (which is always good to have), but because many colleges recognize it as a sign of academic achievement, and it can be counted among your honors. Further, winning one scholarship often increases your odds of winning more, as each selection committee views previous winnings as proof you are highly qualified for their prize as well.
Should You Study for the PSAT?
This is ultimately up to you, but we believe it is valuable for most students. This is because we believe many students should begin at least preliminary preparations for taking the SAT this early, and due to the nature of the tests, preparing for one does a good job of preparing you for the other.
Studying works best when it’s done over a long duration, rather than crammed in at the last minute. This allows you to truly master the skills and material in question, and to hone them to the level you need. For this reason, we advise many of our students to begin studying for the SAT in the summer before their junior year.
The PSAT comes, for many students, in October of their junior year. Thus while you are preparing for the SAT, you are also preparing for the PSAT. This feeds back into itself, as the PSAT is a wonderful way to test your overall preparation for the SAT, and to see what additional work you need to do.
Depending on your school, you will likely have to take the PSAT, whether or not you care overmuch about it. Since you’re going to be taking it anyway, and there are some major potential upsides to doing well on it in the form of scholarship opportunities, why not try to do your best on it?
That isn’t to say this is a test you need to stress about, or spend hours cramming for. It does not directly impact your chances of college acceptance, and it is possible to perform poorly on this test and still do well on the real SAT or ACT. We simply believe that it is in most students’ interest to spend time preparing for this test.
How to Study for the PSAT
Since we’ve concluded that studying for the PSAT is worth it, we should give you some advice on how to go about doing so. For more detailed advice, we recommend our articles on test prep and studying for the SAT, which cover the same material in more depth and breadth.
In general, you can prepare for the PSAT in the same way you can prepare for the SAT (since they are essentially the same). Here are our core principles for doing so:
- Take practice tests. This is the best way to prepare; by doing the thing you are preparing for. Try to simulate the environment and timing as best you can when taking the practice test.
- Review material to mastery. Once you have taken a practice test, you will see where you have issues to resolve. Target these individually, working to improve the needed materials and sections with practice problems outside of the test. Work to understand the core concepts that underlie the questions.
- Practice your test taking skills. This is part of the reason for taking full practice tests, to see if and where you might struggle on a test, whether with the format for questions or getting everything finished in the allotted time frame. These too can be practiced and mastered.
If you are looking for help preparing for the SAT, and want to start before you take the PSAT, you should check out our test prep services. We help students improve by 190 points on the SAT on average, and our tutors are masters of preparing you to ace the test.
Final Thoughts
The PSAT is another in a litany of things for you to worry about in high school, but it does have some upsides. From helping you prepare for the SAT and potentially helping you qualify for scholarships, the PSAT is a small but useful part of your high school experience.
We hope that this article has fully introduced you to the PSAT and its purpose, and let you know how it can impact you. If you are looking for help preparing for it, or want to know more about any other aspect of preparing for or applying to college, schedule a free consultation with us today. We have a long history of helping students with their academic goals, and are always happy to hear from you.
