Does the PSAT Matter?

October is PSAT month! Sophomores and juniors across the country are signing up to take the PSAT at their local high schools.

We know the PSAT often gets overlooked or misunderstood, and we don’t want you to make that mistake. Here’s everything you need to know about the PSAT.

Why take the PSAT?

If you’re a junior, the PSAT is the qualifying test for National Merit Scholarship Corporation scholarships. Students who score in the top 3% on the PSAT become eligible to receive National Merit Scholarships, corporate-sponsored merit scholarship awards, and college-sponsored merit scholarship awards.

If you’re a sophomore, the PSAT serves as a practice run for the next year’s PSAT, SAT, and even ACT. For many students, this will be your first time taking a college entrance exam. It’s a good opportunity to get a feel for this kind of test and start identifying areas for improvement.

What’s on the PSAT?

There’s a lot of overlap in content between the PSAT, SAT, and ACT. Like the SAT, the PSAT covers three subject areas: reading, math, and writing. However, the PSAT is a shorter test, at just over 2 hours of testing time. One nice thing is that there’s no essay section on the PSAT. The writing portion consists only of multiple-choice questions.

What does my score mean?

Students can earn up to an 80 on each subject area of the PSAT, for a total of 240. To translate your PSAT score to the SAT scoring scale, simply add a zero to the end of your score! For example, a math score of 58 on the PSAT is comparable to a 580 on the SAT.

With that said, the PSAT provides only an estimate of how you might score on the SAT. Keep in mind that the SAT is longer and a bit more difficult than the PSAT, so many students score higher on the PSAT than they do when taking the SAT for the first time. Your PSAT score is only a starting point that helps you identify which topics you need to study.

How can I prepare?

Use our free SAT resources! Access your Method Test Prep account by logging in to your Career Cruising profile. When you click on “My Plan,” you’ll see a link on the left side that says, “Go to Method Test Prep.” PSAT questions look just like SAT questions, so it’s a good idea to get familiar with them before taking the test!

Erin, Director of Student Services