PSAT

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PSAT

• Angie Gerdes, PSAT Coordinator
• Olathe Northwest High School
• 21300 College Blvd.
• Olathe, Kansas 66061
• agerdesonw_at_olatheschools.com

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WHY TAKE THE PSAT?

• Assess skills in critical reading, math
  reasoning, and writing
• Suggestions on how to improve skills
• Compare skills with other college-bound students
• Practice for the SAT Reasoning Test
• To begin the college search
• To explore college majors and careers
• To earn scholarships and academic recognition

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PSAT

• WHO Junior, Sophomores, and Freshmen
• WHEN Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 800 a.m.
  Please have your student arrive at 745 to the
  ONW Commons. Students should be finished with
  the test at approximately 1100 a.m.
• Parents are not allowed in the testing areas.
  There will also be a large debate tournament
  going on in the building on that day. Please
  wait for your students outside of the building or
  designate a meeting area in the Commons.
• Wednesday, October 17 is the alternate test
  date for students who have a school-related event
  on October 21. (volleyball, debate, or jv
  football)

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• COST 20, cash or check made out to ONW
• REGISTRATION Tonight! After the presentation,
  please make your way to the events entrance. I
  will be happy to sign your student up for the
  test. If you choose not to register this
  evening, your student may bring the registration
  fee to ONW or PRT Student Services.

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What to Bring to the Test?

• Picture ID (School ID is acceptable).
• Plenty of 2 pencils.
• Calculator
• No food or drink is allowed in the testing room
  (even water).
• Make sure students have their cell phones OFF.

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Once taken the PSAT will provide

• An Interactive supplemental PSAT score report.
• My SAT Study Plan.
• Skills to improve.
• Sample student essays.
• SAT practice questions.
• A personalized lists of colleges and majors.
• College and career planning with My Road.
• A link to questions and answers for the test.

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PSAT SCORING

• Sections are scored between 20 80 in each of
  the three areas tested (Critical Reading, Math,
  and Writing).
• The three scores are averaged together for the
  Selection Index
• PERFECT PSAT - 240

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• CRITICAL READING
• Two 25-minute sections
• Focus is on a students ability to read
  critically to think logically, analyze, and
  evaluate.
• First section is sentence completion.
• Second section is passage-based reading.
• See the PSAT Bulletin for examples of the
  questions.

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• MATH
• Two 25-minute sections
• Number and Operations
• Algebra and Functions
• Geometry and Measurement
• Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability
• No questions require calculator use although
  students are strongly encouraged to bring a
  scientific or graphing calculator.
• See the PSAT Bulletin for examples of the
  questions

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• WRITING SKILLS
• One 30-minute section
• The writing section presents sentences and
  paragraphs that contain the kinds of errors that
  students must look for and learn to correct in
  their own writing.
• The questions will ask students to either
  identify sentence errors,
• improve sentences,
• improve paragraphs
• NO ESSAY!
• See the PSAT Bulletin for examples of the
• questions

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National Merit Scholarship Competition

• Typically, around 1.4 million students take the
  PSAT each year.
• About 50,000 will earn scores high enough to
  qualify for recognition
• National Merit Commended Student
• National Merit Semi-Finalist
• National Merit Finalist
• National Achievement Scholarship Program

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• Approximately 50,000 students are recognized each
  Spring and are informed that they are moving on
  in the National Merit Scholarship Competition.
  These students usually have a Selection Index of
  203 or higher.
• From this list, approximately 16,000 students
  will be named National Merit Semi-Finalists they
  are the top scorers in each state and usually
  have a Selection Index of 215 or above. These
  students then continue in the competition for
  about 9,700 Merit Scholarship Awards.
• The remaining students can be recognized as
  Commended students.
• 2006 selection indices these change yearly.

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ONW National Merit Students

• 2005 National Merit Commended Students Aaron
  Mullenioux and Megan Sanders
• 2006 National Merit Commended Students
  Elizabeth Beech, Joel Martinez, William Rath,
  Katie Sanders, Colin Smalley
• National Merit Hispanic Scholar Joel Martinez
• 2007 National Merit Winners Jesi Egan and
  Eowyn Jackson National Merit Commended Students
  Andrew Joseph and Kyle E. Reynolds
• National Merit Achievement Program Samantha
  Lewis
• 2008 National Merit Semi-Finalists Matthew
  Picht and Zachary Stanley National Merit
  Commended Students to be Announced at the end of
  September

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Tips

• Get plenty of sleep the night before the test
• Follow directions exactly and dont be afraid to
  ask questions.
• Mark the answer folder carefully.
• Dont spend too much time on any single
  questions. For hard ones, choose the answer you
  think is best and move on.
• There is a penalty for guessing. Many questions
  can be answered by the process of elimination.
  If that is not possible, it is better to leave
  the question blank.

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Results?

• Results of the PSAT will be shared with students
  at the beginning of January.

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QUESTIONS?