Benefits of taking the PSAT/NMSQT

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Benefits of taking the PSAT/NMSQT

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Title: Benefits of taking the PSAT/NMSQT

1
Benefits of taking the PSAT/NMSQT

The test provides
the best practice for the SAT Reasoning Test.
the option to receive information from colleges
and scholarship services through the secure
Student Search Service
the entry point to compete for National Merit
Scholarships (juniors only), including the
National Achievement Program. It also provides
recognition via the National Hispanic Recognition
Program.
information about college major interests
motivation for students to think actively about
preparing for college.
Access to My Road. Online College, major, and
career exploration tool. Access code distributed
with score report.

2
Benefits of taking the PSAT/NMSQT

Additionally, when you take the test, you
receive
personalized feedback on critical reading, math,
and writing skills, including suggestions for
improvement.
information about each test question, including
correct answers with full explanations online
students also have their actual test book
returned with their score reports.
insight into how students academic skills
compare to their college-bound peers.
free access to MyRoad, a dynamic Web-based
career, major, and college exploration tool

3
Scholarships Recognition

By taking the PSAT/NMSQT, you may qualify to
enter the competitions for prestigious
scholarships and participate in recognition
programs.
(As cosponsor of the PSAT/NMSQT, NMSC receives
all students' scores. If you do not want your
scores released to other recognition programs,
contact us.)
National Merit Scholarship
The National Hispanic Recognition Program
National Scholarship Service
The Telluride Association

4
National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC)

National Merit 2500 ScholarshipsEvery Finalist
competes for these single payment scholarships,
which are awarded on a state representational
basis. Winners are selected without consideration
of family financial circumstances, college
choice, or major and career plans.
Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship
awardsCorporate sponsors designate their awards
for children of their employees or members, for
residents of a community where a company has
operations, or for Finalists with career plans
the sponsor wishes to encourage. These
scholarships may either be renewable for four
years of undergraduate study or one-time awards.
College-sponsored Merit Scholarship
awardsOfficials of each sponsor college select
winners of their awards from Finalists who have
been accepted for admission and have informed
NMSC by the published deadlines that the sponsor
college or university is their first choice.
These awards are renewable for up to four years
of undergraduate study.

5
National Hispanic Recognition Program

The College Board's National Hispanic Recognition
Program was initiated in 1983 to identify
outstanding Hispanic high school students and to
share information about these academically
well-prepared students with subscribing colleges
and universities. In order to be eligible,
students must be at least one-quarter Hispanic.
Each year the NHRP identifies approximately 3,300
of the highest scoring students from a nationwide
total of 124,000 high school juniors who took the
PSAT/NMSQT and designated themselves as Hispanic
as well as approximately 125 of the top scoring
PAA students from Puerto Rico. The nationwide
selection also includes students from Puerto
Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and U.S.
citizens attending international and APO schools.
Although the College Board is not able to provide
a monetary award to these students, an important
component of the program is the CD-ROM
distributed to subscribing four-year
postsecondary institutions. This CD-ROM lists the
names of all students selected in the program and
is mailed in September to these subscribing
colleges and universities. Being listed may give
students an opportunity to hear from colleges
that are particularly interested in communicating
with prospective students of Hispanic heritage.

6
National Scholarship Service

National Scholarship Service (NSSFNS) offers a
free college advisory and referral service for
students who plan to attend two-year or four-year
colleges. Scores will be sent for juniors who
indicate that they are African American students.
(This program is not conducted by NMSC.)
For more information, write to
National Scholarship Service980 Martin Luther
King Drive, SW, PO Box 11409Atlanta, GA 30310

7
The Telluride Association

The Telluride Association offers scholarships to
gifted juniors for summer seminars in the
humanities and social sciences. (This program is
not conducted by NMSC.)
For more information, write to
Telluride Association 217 West Avenue Ithaca,
NY 14850

8
What is on the PSAT/NMSQT?

What is it testing?

9
What does the PSAT/NMSQT actually test?

Critical reading skillsusing content from
humanities, social studies, natural sciences, and
literature.
Math reasoning skillsusing content from number
and operations algebra and functions geometry
and measurement data analysis, statistics, and
probability.
Writing skillsfocus on editing, grammar, usage,
and organization.

10
PSAT/NMSQTCritical Reading Questions

13 Sentence Completions
35 Passage-Based Reading Questions (100- to
800-word passages)

11
PSAT/NMSQTMath Questions

28 Multiple-Choice Questions
10 Student-Produced Response Questions(Grid-ins
)

12
PSAT/NMSQTWriting Skills Questions

20 Improving Sentences Questions
14 Identifying Sentence Error Questions
5 Improving Paragraph Questions

13
How does the PSAT/NMSQT compare to the SAT?

Same question types, except the SAT includes an
essay assignment.
PSAT/NMSQT is 2 hours, 10 minutes the SAT is 3
hours, 45 minutes.
SAT will have a few math questions from
third-year math courses PSAT/NMSQT will not.
(Samples of third-year math questions are
available on www.collegeboard.com/psatextra after
you receive your score report in December.)

14
Sample PSAT/NMSQT Questions
15
Critical Reading SectionSentence Completions

Roger said the report was significant Heather
contradicted him, saying that all the information
presented was ------- .
(A) contemporary
(B) scintillating
(C) objective
(D) irrevocable
(E) immaterial

16
Critical Reading SectionSentence Completions

Roger said the report was significant Heather
contradicted him, saying that all the information
presented was ------- .
(A) contemporary
(B) scintillating
(C) objective
(D) irrevocable
(E) immaterial

Because Heather is contradicting Roger, the
correct response is the word that is most nearly
the opposite of "significant. Choice (E) is
correct. "Immaterial" means inconsequential or
irrelevant. Information that is immaterial is by
definition not significant.
17
Critical Reading SectionPassage-Based Reading

Excerpt from reading passage
After I left the room, I began to sift my
impressions. Only the day before, an acquaintance
had warned me to watch carefully for
sleight-of-hand tricks, especially as the man had
earlier been a stage conjuror.

18
Critical Reading SectionPassage-Based Reading

The acquaintance mentioned in line 2 can best
be described as a
(A) skeptic
(B) hypocrite
(C) hoaxer
(D) confidant
(E) mystic

19
Critical Reading SectionPassage-Based Reading

The acquaintance mentioned in line 2 can best
be described as a
(A) skeptic
(B) hypocrite
(C) hoaxer
(D) confidant
(E) mystic

The acquaintance mentioned in line 2 warns the
author to "watch carefully for sleight-of-hand
tricks." Choice (A) is correct. In warning the
author to watch out for tricks, the acquaintance
is showing that he is skeptical about the
telepathist's supposed powers.
20
Math SectionMultiple Choice

If ax bx 36, what is the value of x when a
b 12?
(A) 3
(B) 6
(C) 12
(D) 24
(E) 48

21
Math SectionMultiple Choice

If ax bx 36, what is the value of x when a
b 12?
(A) 3
(B) 6
(C) 12
(D) 24
(E) 48

The expression ax bx is equivalent to (a b)
x, so the equation ax bx 36 is equivalent to
(a b) x 36. When a b 12, the equation
becomes 12x 36, which can be solved to get x
3.

22
Math SectionStudent-Produced Response

If , what is the value of h?

h 1 5h 4 3 6
23
Math SectionStudent-Produced Response

If , what is the value of h?

h 1 5h 4 3 6
4
/
7

Multiply each member of the equation by 12 (the
common denominator) to get 3h 4 10h
Subtract 3h from both sides to get 7h 4
Divide by 7
h 4/7.

24
Math SectionKnow the Student-Produced Response
Directions

Read and understand the directions ahead of time.

25
Math SectionStudent-Produced Response Practice
Grids
26
Math SectionCalculators are encouraged

A scientific or graphing calculator is
recommended.
Bring one with which you are familiar.
NO CELL PHONES!!!

27
Writing SectionImproving Sentences

A few barges still move oil up to Hartford, but
in the old days they had more traffic then.
(A) but in the old days they had more traffic
then
(B) but in the old days traffic was heavier
(C) but in the old days they had a lot more
(D) whereas the traffic was a lot more in the old
days
(E) whereas then there was more traffic in the
old days

28
Writing SectionIdentifying Sentence Errors

A few barges still move oil up to Hartford, but
in the old days they had more traffic then.
(A) but in the old days they had more traffic
then
(B) but in the old days traffic was heavier
(C) but in the old days they had a lot more
(D) whereas the traffic was a lot more in the old
days
(E) whereas then there was more traffic in the
old days

Choice (B) is correct. It avoids the errors of
the original by eliminating both the unnecessary
adverb, "then," and the vague pronoun, "they."
29
Writing SectionIdentifying Sentence Errors

The electronic computer is a technological
triumph that scientists have developed, mastered,
and then put it to constantly increasing use. No
error.

B
C
A
D
E
30
Writing SectionIdentifying Sentence Errors

The electronic computer is a technological
triumph that scientists have developed, mastered,
and then put it to constantly increasing use. No
error.

C
B
A
E
D
The error in this sentence occurs at (B), where
an unnecessary pronoun is used. The object of the
verb "have . . . put" (like the object of the
verbs "have developed" and "have . . . mastered")
is the relative pronoun "that," which refers to
"technological triumph." The pronoun "it" is
therefore unnecessarily inserted after "put."
31
Writing SectionImproving Paragraphs

(1) The last century was a time of great
technological progress. (2) Life is more
convenient, comfortable, and efficient today than
ever before. (3) Yet this has created new
concerns.
Which of the following versions of sentence 3
(reproduced below) is most effective?
Yet this has created new concerns.
(A) Although this has created new concerns.
(B) Yet this progress has created new concerns.
(C) Yet these have created new concerns.
(D) Yet this has created new concerns to worry
about.
(E) New concerns have been created.

32
Writing SectionImproving Paragraphs

(1) The last century was a time of great
technological progress. (2) Life is more
convenient, comfortable, and efficient today than
ever before. (3) Yet this has created new
concerns.
Which of the following versions of sentence 3
(reproduced below) is most effective?
Yet this has created new concerns.
(A) Although this has created new concerns.
(B) Yet this progress has created new concerns.
(C) Yet these have created new concerns.
(D) Yet this has created new concerns to worry
about.
(E) New concerns have been created.

Choice (B) is correct. The vague pronoun "this"
is replaced by "this progress," which clearly
refers to the progress mentioned in sentence 1.
33
Writing SectionPractice for the SAT Essay

A practice SAT essay assignment will be printed
on the PSAT/NMSQT Student Score Report. Students
can go online to www.collegeboard.com/psatextra
to see sample papers written for that essay
assignment and learn about how the SAT essay will
be scored.

34
Scoring thePSAT/NMSQT
35
How is the PSAT/NMSQT scored?

Multiple-choice questions 1 point for each
correct 1/4 point deducted for each incorrect
Math grid-ins 1 point for each correct 0 points
for each incorrect (nothing deducted)
0 points for omitted questions (nothing added,
nothing deducted)

36
How is the PSAT/NMSQT scored?

Scores are reported on a scale of 2080 for each
section critical reading, math, and writing
skills.
For juniors, 4750 is about average for
sophomores, 4346 is about average.

37
How does a PSAT/NMSQT score compare to an SAT
score?

Some students add a 0 to the two-digit
PSAT/NMSQT score to give a rough estimate of a
three-digit SAT score.
A more reliable SAT projected score range will be
on your PSAT/NMSQT Score Report.
SAT writing score approximately 1/3 essay
scaled score 2/3 multiple-choice score.
Students who have taken the PSAT/NMSQT average
higher scores on the SAT than those who have not.

38
Personalized Skills Information
The PSAT/NMSQT Score Report has helpful
information to help students improve their skills.

Lists skills that have the best chance of
improvement with additional work.
Includes advice, written by teachers, on how to
improve those skills.

39
Getting ready to take the PSAT/NMSQT

Long-term and short-term preparation

40
Short-term Test Preparation

Students should
take the full-length practice test in the
Official Student Guide and get comfortable with
the test format. Take time to score it, to
better understand the scoring process.
Visit www.collegeboard.com/psat for additional
practice test items
Sign up to receive the SAT Question of the Day at
www.collegeboard.com
Understand formula scoring and educated
guessing
Become familiar with the types of test questions,
the directions, and test format

41
Test-Readiness Strategies

Learn the directions beforehand
Read all the answer choices
Do scratch work in the test book
Work steadily
If you skip a question, be sure to note it in the
test book, and leave it blank on the answer
sheet. Return to it if you have time.
Remember students dont have to answer every
question to score well

42
Tips and strategies

Sentence Completions
Some PSAT sentence completions have two blanks
rather than one. If you can guess the meaning of
one blank, but not the other, scan the answer
choices, looking for the word youve guessed.
Eliminate the answer choices that dont include
it or a near-synonym, and then guess from what
remains.
Critical Reading
Look for the main idea of each paragraph.
Remember the concept of the "topic sentence"?
Your English teacher may have taught you to
include one in every paragraph you write. PSAT
paragraphs often contain such a sentence that
summarizes the central point of the paragraph.
When you find one, underline it.
Math Multiple-Choice
If you dont see your answer listed as one of the
choices, it may be the same as one of the choices
but written in a different mathematical form. If
your answer is a fraction, try changing it to a
decimal or percent.
Grid-ins
The grid that you will use to fill out your
answer does not contain a minus sign, so there is
no way to indicate that a value is less than
zero. If the answer you come up with is a
negative number, check back over your work
because youve made a mistake.

43
Be sure to take the Practice Test in the 2005
Official Student Guide
44
Test-readiness Strategies

In most sections, the questions are arranged from
easy to more difficult (except for passage-based
reading in critical reading section and improving
paragraphs in writing skills section)
Wild guessing is discouraged, but students should
make educated guesses.

45
WG
EG
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
46
Wild Guessing
47
Educated Guessing
48
Answer Key
49
To learn morevisit www.collegeboard.com
50
Take the PSAT/NMSQT