Note from Mr. Allen: I asked my colleague Graeme Brown to pen a guest post to coincide with the release of PSAT scores.

Graeme Brown is the Ivy West Regional Director in the Orange County and San Diego regions.  Graeme is a former Ivy West tutor, professional baseball player in the New York Mets organization, and passionate advocate for college prep tutoring and admissions counseling.  He received his B.A. from Brown University.

“I just received my PSAT scores…now what?”  That is a familiar refrain being heard in high schools throughout the country as PSAT scores are returned to students.  For many of the 1.4 million students who take the PSAT each year, this is their initial foray into the world of college admissions tests.  Technically the PSAT test doesn’t count, but that doesn’t mean the results are worthless.  Your PSAT scores can be extremely helpful in determining where you are currently, where you want to go, and how you are going to get there.

The Practice SAT (creatively titled the PSAT) is used for three primary purposes:

1)      To determine the National Merit Scholars.

2)      To offer a practice test to sophomores and juniors in high schools.

3)      To collect marketing data for college and universities.

The National Merit Scholarship program is an academic scholarship competition that uses PSAT results as the initial judging criteria.  Out of the approximately 1.5 million students that take the PSAT annually, 50,000 students (Juniors) with the highest combined index (math + writing + critical reading) are selected as “Commended.”  All “Commended” students are notified of their status and are asked for two colleges that they would like this impressive notification to be sent.  Fast-forward 1 year to your student’s Senior year fall, where a state-by-state index is used to whittle the 50,000 “Commended” students down to approximately 16,000 “Semifinalists.”  Last year in California, that index number was 218.

School leadership will notify students if they have been selected as a National Merit Semifinalist.  Approximately half of the 16,000 students will become “Finalists” by submitting additional SAT test scores, a personal essay, a recommendation from a school official, and an outstanding academic record.  Each of the 8,000+ “Finalists”, notified by letter at their home address, will receive some type of financial reward.  Many of the “Semifinalists” will also receive scholarship money as well.  More info on this process can be found at http://www.nationalmerit.org/

For everyone that takes the PSAT, the scores provide you with an early indicator about your future SAT proficiency.  As the SAT is often an important piece of the college application process, many families will choose to hire a prep company to boost these scores (full disclosure: I work for one such company, Ivy West).  Another option if you’re not happy with your PSAT scores?  Take a practice ACT test.  Some students do considerably better on this other widely-accepted college admissions test.  Furthermore, if test-prep, the ACT, and other measures don’t bring your scores up to your desired level, there are many schools that are now test-optional as well.

First, congrats! Getting through the PSAT is one of the first steps down the road of the college admissions process that, hopefully, will result in you getting into the college of your choice.

The good news about the PSAT (or Preliminary SAT) is that is it mostly *for practice*. It’s a good barometer of where you are right now in terms of the SAT. That’s the best use of the results. And remember, your final chance to take the SAT for college admissions will be in the fall of your senior year, so no matter where you are right now in terms of score, you’ve got time to work on it and get better!

The PSAT is also used as the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship. The National Merit Scholarship program is an academic scholarship competition that uses PSAT results as the initial judging criteria. It’s a very high commendation, with less than five percent of the students who take the test being honored. If you receive word that your scores are eligible, congrats! Your counselors will be able to guide you through the rest of that process (more info can be found at http://www.nationalmerit.org/).

Whether you are eligible for National Merit or not, remember these important facts:

1)      You have time to improve your score.

2)      There are resources out there, such as books or tutors, to help you improve.

3)      Somehow, at the end of this laborious process, students get to go to college. If you work hard and keep that in mind, so will you.

I asked two test preparation professionals to submit guest posts on the PSAT.

The first is by Mr. Allan Pullido.

Allan Pulido is the Outreach Director for The Princeton Review and also has 13 years of SAT teaching experience. He studied Math and English at UC Irvine and is an avid San Diego Chargers fan. Feel free to contact him with any questions you may have.

The PSAT is comprised of three (3) sections: Math, Reading and Writing. Each section ranges from 20-80 points so your total possible score is 240. The average score for each section is approximately 50 for high school juniors (therefore, the average total score is approximately 150). The PSAT is also known as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT), and in California, the minimum qualifying score has been 218 points total for the past few years. National Merit can mean becoming a semi-finalist, finalist or actual winner of scholarship money. For many students however, National Merit is simply the proverbial pat on the head. Colleges do not judge your application based on your PSAT scores.

The way to translate PSAT scores into SAT scores is to add a zero to each PSAT result. For example, a 55 on the Math is approximately a 550 on the official SAT. It’s important to remember that the PSAT and SAT are still slightly different exams. The translation is meant to estimate what you might receive on the real thing, not to predict it.

Now that you have your PSAT scores, you have one half of the information you need when preparing for the real SAT. The next step is to consider which colleges interest you the most. Whilst you will probably think of college options in terms of academics, ranking, popularity and test scores, remember that other important factors are location, weather, distance from home, sports, school spirit and social activities. After creating a tentative college list, you should compare your PSAT scores with the average SAT scores of each school. Now you will know how much preparation, if any, you will need for the official exam.

Additionally, it’s important to note that the PSAT is a standardized test that measures how well you take the exam. The PSAT is not an IQ test, not a placement test and certainly not a predictor of your success and happiness post St. Margaret’s. Like many skills, test taking is something everyone can learn and there are certainly differences in everyone’s starting, natural abilities. The best testers typically love puzzles, online role playing games and “pwning noobs” (sic) online. The rest of the normal, human, prom going population typically hates all forms of standardized testing. No matter where your scores are, you probably want them higher and there are many ways to accomplish this goal.

If you received the PSAT test booklet, don’t forget to use the score report and booklet to check your errors and blank answers. In the Math and Sentence Completion sections, the problems become more difficult as you progress with the questions. This means you should be focusing on getting the easy and medium problems correct FIRST because the hard problems are still worth the same number of points. There’s no sense in hurrying when you are making mistakes with the easiest problems. In the Critical Reading section, rephrase the statements to actual questions (e.g. “In lines 6-12, the author mentions the flock of seagulls in order to” into “WHY does the author mention the flock of seagulls”). On the real SAT, you will also tackle the 25-minute, handwritten essay to start the test. Ignore the long winded quote presented to you and go straight to the actual prompt on the bottom. The quote tends to confuse students–you don’t have to refer back to the quote or use it in your response if you don’t want to.

Regardless of your PSAT scores and your college goals, don’t freak out about your results. You took the PSAT to discover your natural abilities and now that you have that information, you can make the necessary adjustments to improve your scores on the real thing. If you are interested in preparing for the official test, ask your counselors for advice or contact me. Remember that SAT scores are only one part of the application process and that other factors such as your GPA are much more important.

Good luck!

~ Allan Pulido