The PSAT® Is a Useful Launching Point for SAT® Prep if You Know How to Use It
The PSAT®, or Preliminary SAT®, is one part of the larger SAT® Suite of Assessments.
The PSAT® itself is not a single test, but rather 3 different assessments. They include the PSAT 8/9®, the PSAT/NMSQT® (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test), and the PSAT 10®.
This group of tests act as an SAT® prelude, if you will; a means for students to gradually test their skills and college readiness as they progress toward the SAT®. Each subsequent test administration provides a new benchmark to measure the academic growth students made since the test prior.
The PSAT 8/9® is created for 8th- and 9th-graders. It serves as a way for teachers and parents to get a baseline for their students’ skills and the areas in need of improvement.
Students who take the PSAT 8/9® are able to get a head start on using the data from their scores to work with parents and teachers to create practical and applicable academic goals moving forward.
The PSAT/NMSQT® and the PSAT 10® are offered to 10th- and 11th-graders. These tests provide another opportunity to measure student progress. Ideally, students’ performances can be compared to PSAT 8/9® performances as a way to monitor growth and lingering struggles that may negatively impact SAT® performance.
Additionally, the PSAT/NMSQT® and the PSAT 10® come before students will be faced with the SAT®, so they give students a clear idea of what it will be like to sit for the SAT®, as well as a guide for academic improvement.
From the PSAT 8/9® forward, if a student takes the entire suite of SAT® assessments, their progress is able to be measured year after year, allowing them to identify their strengths, but more importantly, their areas of weakness.
Taking the entire suite of SAT® assessments provides students with a huge boost to better prepare them for the rigors of the college-admissions process, while also generating critical data points that test-prep tutors can use in creating personalized growth plans for their clients.
In talking to your clients about the importance of the PSAT®, here are our top 5 reasons students should take the PSAT®.
The Similarities and Differences Between the PSAT® and SAT®
The PSAT® tests are positioned as a segue to the SAT®. As such, both share most of the same major subjects and include content similarities. However, they also vary in many important ways.
To get the most out of the PSAT® tests as a test-prep tool, you must be able to break down the similarities and differences between the PSATs® and SAT®.
Purpose
The most significant discrepancy between the PSAT® tests and the SAT® is in their respective purposes.
The main objective of taking the PSAT® tests is to practice and prepare students for the SAT®. On the other hand, the purpose of the SAT® is often students complying with a requisite for college admissions and, in some cases, high school graduation.
Length
Another considerable disparity between the PSATs® and SAT® is the length of the tests. The timings for each are as follows:
PSAT 8/9®: 2 hours and 35 minutes (with breaks)
Reading: 55 minutes
Writing and Language: 30 minutes
Math (No Calculator): 20 minutes
Math (Calculator): 40 minutes
PSAT/NMSQT® and PSAT 10®: 2 hours and 55 minutes (with breaks)
Reading: 60 minutes
Writing and Language: 35 minutes
Math (No Calculator): 25 minutes
Math (Calculator): 45 minutes
SAT® (There is no longer an essay): 3 hours and 15 minutes (with breaks)
Reading: 65 minutes
Writing and Language: 35 minutes
Math (No Calculator): 25 minutes
Math (Calculator): 55 minutes
As you can well see, the SAT® is a long test. Students need stamina and focus to successfully complete it. Students who take the PSATs® become familiar with sitting for these types of tests and will be able to gradually build up their test day endurance. This authentic practice gives PSAT®-takers an advantage over those students unaccustomed to testing for such long periods of time.
Content
Here is where the tests run a bit more parallel to one another. While the degree of difficulty gradually increases from the PSAT 8/9® through the SAT®, the content essentially remains the same. From the subjects covered (reading, writing and language, and math) to structure and style of questions, the content of all of the SAT® Suite of Assessments are similar.
Reading: Evidence-Based Reading sections appear on all of the PSAT® tests, as well as the SAT®. The Reading sections also all contain reading passages of which students are required to answer reading comprehension questions.
Writing and Language: This section also appears on all the PSATs® and the SAT®. Students are given passages and asked to answer grammatical and stylistic questions regarding the provided texts.
Math: On all of the PSAT® tests and the SAT®, this section is divided into 2 sections: with and without a calculator. All of the tests use the same style of questions - grid-in and multiple-choice.
As previously mentioned, the level of difficulty gradually increases from the PSAT 8/9® to the SAT®. The PSAT 8/9® is created to match common academic standards for 8th- and 9th-graders. The PSAT/NMSQT® and the PSAT 10® test academic skills on par with academic expectations for 10th- and 11th-graders. Likewise, the SAT® evaluates more advanced skills in an effort to paint as clear a picture as possible of a student’s college-readiness.
Cost
A major difference between the PSAT® tests and the SAT® is their price tags.
PSAT 8/9®: Test books are $14 each.
PSAT/NMSQT® and PSAT 10®: Test books are currently $18 each.
SAT®: Registration is $55 without additional fees.
For the PSAT® tests, the cost to students can vary depending upon whether students’ schools cover part or all of the fees.
The SAT®, on the other hand, is an expense that students must pay out of their own pockets, unless they qualify for a fee waiver.
Clearly, the PSAT® tests are significantly cheaper or possibly free, which means that students can get a cost-effective real test experience to start with.
For more, check out our guide: Help Students Save on Costs and Fees for the SAT® and ACT®.
Dates
Since the PSATs® are administered by schools, students are only able to take them once a year. Schools choose a date from an available window of time to offer the PSAT® tests to their students.
The SAT®, however, is typically administered nationally 7 times a year: August, October, November, December, March, May, and June with additional school-day administrations offered by some schools in the fall and spring.
As per the College Board, here are the 2021-22 SAT® Suite of Assessments test dates:
PSAT 8/9®: September 20, 2021 - March 25, 2022 and April 13 - 29, 2022
PSAT/NMSQT® and PSAT 10®: October 13, 2021 (Primary test day); October 16, 2021 (Saturday test day); and October 26, 2021 (Alternate test day)
SAT®: August 28,2021; October 2, 2021; November 6, 2021; December 4, 2021; March 12, 2022; May 7, 2022; June 4, 2022
Remind your interested clients that because the PSATs® are offered through their school, students do not have to register for them with the College Board. Schools will simply notify their students of the available dates and block out that window of time for them to take the tests.
Scoring
Unfortunately, the numbers that come back on students’ score reports do not directly translate between tests; however, the SAT® Suite of Assessments all use a vertical score scale. So, while the numbers between tests may not match up perfectly, they can still be compared.
Here is a breakdown of the scoring for each of the tests:
PSAT 8/9®: Maximum score is 1440
The total score consists of 2 section scores: Reading and Writing, and Math. Each section has a maximum score of 720.
PSAT/NMSQT® and PSAT 10®: Maximum score is 1520.
The total score consists of 2 section scores: Reading and Writing, and Math. Each section has a maximum score of 760.
SAT®: Maximum score is 1600.
The total score consists of 2 section scores: Reading and Writing, and Math. Each section has a maximum score of 800.
NOTE: There is no longer any “guessing penalty” on any of the PSAT® or SAT® assessments. This means that there is no advantage to leaving a question blank.
Rough conversion scales are available. For example, a student who scored a 1100 on their PSAT® would likely have scored a 1220 on the SAT®. That said, given the difference in content levels between the tests, these translations can be limited in their worth.
The real value to test-prep tutors lies in the score reports themselves. The score reports for the PSATs® and the SAT® are similar enough to provide valuable information and serve as an ideal launching point for personalizing a student’s SAT® test-prep journey.
How to Interpret a PSAT® Score Report as a Test-Prep Tool
Once a student receives their score report, it is imperative to help them decipher their report to find the information that matters most.
Students who take the PSATs® are able to view their score reports online, which include summaries of their academic performance for each test, including how they performed in each content area. Also included is a question-by-question breakdown of question difficulty and both correct and student answers. Pairing this feature with the relevant QAS test release can serve as a powerful diagnostic for helping your students identify areas of strength and weakness.
Strong test-prep tutors will be able to leverage this information to ensure test-prep time and focus is allocated correctly. Ideally, it can be a means to help students recognize the types of questions that they struggled with and avoid getting snared by them in the future.
Which brings us to just that- their future. Students taking the PSATs® are most likely on the path to taking the SAT® or ACT® in preparation for college admissions. The PSAT® Score Report can be an essential tool to help students set their test-prep goals by accurately evaluating their academic strengths and weaknesses before they take a swing at a college admissions test.
