Test Prep
PSAT
PSAT Test
What is the PSAT?
PSAT/NMSQT stands for Preliminary SAT / National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. It is essentially a practice test for the test that counts—the SAT. All students take the PSAT during school hours in October of 11th grade, and some schools administer the PSAT to 9th and 10th graders as well. Individual high schools register their students for the PSAT and then inform parents when the test is to be administered and what arrangements have been made.
The test is approximately two hours and twenty minutes long and is broken up into two 25-minute critical reading sections, two 25-minute math sections, and one 30-minute writing skills section. Unlike the SAT, the PSAT/NMSQT does not require students to write an essay.
Calculator use is allowed on the math sections, and the College Board has posted guidelines to help students determine which calculators are approved for the test.
The PSAT/NMSQT serves several purposes. For many students, it simply provides firsthand practice for the SAT I Reasoning Test. However, it is also the test used to qualify students for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's scholarship program, which can be a significant source of financial aid for students scoring in the top percentiles. In some schools, the PSAT results are also used internally to help teachers and counselors place students in Honors, Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement courses.
Scoring the PSAT
The PSAT is scored just like the SAT.
- Each correct answer = 1 full point, regardless of the difficulty level
- Each unanswered question = 0 points
- Each incorrect answer to a Student-Produced Response question = 0 points
- Each incorrect answer to a multiple choice question = -1/4 pts
These rules are used to produce a raw score for each section (critical reading, math, and writing skills), and each raw score is then converted to a scaled score on the PSAT/NMSQT scale of 20 to 80. Scores can be converted to approximate SAT scores with a multiplier of 10 (200 to 800).
Each section of the PSAT is given equal weight in a total score ranging from 60 points to 240 points. The NMSC (National Merit Scholarship Corporation) uses this total score to determine which students qualify for its scholarship programs. Each year, the score to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship varies according to state. For example, last year's score to qualify as a semi-finalist in New York was 218, but the score to qualify in Georgia was 214. The qualifying score for the National Achievement Scholarship varies by region.
Students receive official score reports through their school counseling offices in December or January, and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation contacts the 50,000 high-scoring juniors from that year's test in April to notify them of the next steps in the scholarship selection process.