Introduction to the PSAT

1
Introduction to the PSAT

• The Preliminary SAT (PSAT)
• The National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
  (NMSQT)

2
Test Date

• Ardrey Kell will administer the PSAT to all 10th
  and 11th grade students on Wednesday, October 15,
  2014.
• A Practice PSAT will be administered to all 9th
  grade students, and scores will be entered into
  Triumph.
• October 15th is a PSAT National Testing Day for
  all 10th and 11th grade students.
• For AK, it will be a full instructional day,
• with 3rd and 4th block following the
• completion of the PSAT.

3
About the PSAT

• The PSAT/NMSQT helps students by
• Measuring academic skills needed for college
• Identifying skills that need improvement
• Providing access to scholarships through the
  National Merit Scholarship Corporation based on
  PSAT scores
• Providing good practice for the SAT
• Predicting, based on scores, how well you will
  succeed in an Advanced Placement (AP) class

4
National Merit Scholarship Program

• PSAT/NMSQT scores are used as an initial screener
  for students to be entered into the National
  Merit Scholarship Program
• Only Juniors who take the PSAT will be considered
  for this program based upon their PSAT scores.
• Out of 3.5 million students taking the PSAT,
  about 1.5 million high-scoring students will
  qualify for this program
• Only 8,900 national finalists will be awarded
• scholarships from the National Merit
  Scholarship
• Program It could be you!!

5
About the PSAT

• The PSAT/NMSQT tests the academic skill areas of
• Critical reading
• Mathematics
• Writing skills.
• The PSAT/NMSQT consists of five sections, and
  will take approximately 3 hours to complete.

6
Critical Reading

• Has two 25-minute sections
• 48 Total Questions
• 13 Sentence Completion Questions
• 35 Questions Based on Reading Passages

7
Critical Reading

• Measures a students ability to
• Analyze and evaluate the text
• Determine the meaning of words/vocabulary skills
• Draw conclusions
• Use reasoning and inferences to understand the
  text
• Identify the main idea and supporting details
• Understand literary elements and the organization
  of a text

8
Mathematics

• Has two 25-minute sections
• 38 Total Questions
• 28 Multiple Choice Questions
• 10 Student Response Questions (Fill in the Grid)

9
Mathematics

• Math concepts tested
• Number and operations (20-25)
• Algebra and functions (35-40)
• Geometry and measurement (25-30)
• Data analysis, statistics, probability
  (10-15)

10
Writing

• One 30-minute section
• No essay
• 39 Total Questions
• 14 Identifying Sentence Errors
• 20 Improving Sentences
• 5 Improving Paragraphs

11
Scoring

• Multiple Choice Questions
• 1 point for each correct answer
• Lose ¼ point for each incorrect answer
• Student Response/Fill in the Grid
• 1 point for each correct answer
• O points for each incorrect answer
• Omitted Questions
• O points for questions not answered
• Scale 20-80 for each test section

12
Scores

• Students will receive their scores at school in
  December
• Students can receive access to online scores and
  tools through My College QuickStartTM and
  MyRoadTM.

13
Test Day

• Report to homeroom (same location as the ACT last
  week)
• Students need to bring
• Two No. 2 pencils with erasers
• A calculator
• Novel
• No cell phones or electronics allowed in the
  testing room!!

14
Test Day Strategies

• Read the whole question and ALL of the answer
  choices
• Answer all of the questions you know first
• Mark the questions you do not know, so you can go
  back to them if you have time
• Use the test booklet for scratch work, and put
  the work next to the question/problem
• Eliminate answer choices before choosing your
  final answer
• Check to make sure the answer you are marking on
  the answer sheet is the same number you are
  working on in the test booklet

15
For More Information

• Review the Official Student Guide to the
  PSAT/NMSQT that you received last month
• Visit the College Board website
• www.collegeboard.org
• Visit the National Merit Scholarship Program
  website
• www.nationalmerit.org