Prep for college early... Take the psat!

[Cutler4Life]

You can take the PSAT as early as freshman year in high school, so do it! I have read that kids who take the psat are more likely to enroll in test taking classes and ultimately score better on the act and sat. By taking this practice sat early, you can identify which skills you need to strengthen and which skills are already solid. The test itself isn't difficult, it is just tricky sometimes. Buy a sat test prep book and look over like you would any other homework assignment. Starting early (same to investing money) is the foundation for a success.

Ask any questions about any of the tests here, I took them all, my kids will also be taking them soon.

[davidexct]

I too agree that we should be preparing for college, especially for language subjects like english. High school is much easier than college, and so if we do not prepare itself from the beginning, it may happen that we are left behind.

[Miya]

I didn't take the PSAT, but I definitely recommend taking it. Not only does it help you prepare for the actual SAT, but if you score well you'll also be eligible to apply for certain schloarships.

And it only takes $20 (or at least, that was the cost while I was in school) so there's no harm in trying.

[Bob]

In addition to being a great way to prepare for the SAT, the PSAT also enables test-takers to earn National Merit Scholarships in their junior year!

The National Merit Scholarships recognize multiple divisions and categories. Approximately two-thirds of the 50,000 high scorers on the test receive Letters of Commendation. The top one-third become qualified as Semi-finalists. About 15,000 of those people move on to become Finalists, and among them, winners are chosen based on academics and test score.

Many scholarships are available to those who are outstanding, so it is a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

To those who are unfamiliar about what the PSAT is, it is the "Preliminary SAT" because it mirrors the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), a test used to gauge ability levels in Writing, Critical Reading, and Math for college applications. While the maximum score on the SAT is 2400, the maximum score on the PSAT is 240. The three sections (Writing, Critical Reading, and Math) each make up one-third of the points in the score (80). Usually, a score above 200 is necessary to qualify for consideration in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Colleges don't look at PSAT scores, but they definitely consider you as a strong applicant if you qualified for a National Merit Scholarship, so definitely give it a try!

[dannyboy]

I agree with this. The PSAT is crucial to your success on the real thing. You need to have a complete understanding of the type of questions that are going to be on the test. This will help you focus better and not be caught off guard by any questions on the test or the format of the test.

[Cookiesandcream]

I took the PSAT and didn't do that well so I worked really hard and took the SAT the next year. But there wasn't a lot of difference. I guess i'm not really good with aptitude tests even though my gpa was above average. So, I had to apply to colleges with SAT optionals.

[qaximor]

I took the PreSAT in high school and I didn't really prepare for it. The biggest tip everyone told me is that get maximum marks on the Math section as it's the easiest way to get points in there rather than in the Englisch language section.

[wilburngbrandon]

I recommend PSAT. It will help anyone to improve SAT score. Even learning center for SAT Prep plays an important role.

[VNtomboy]

It really depends on you. I don't think taking the PSAT does much of a difference if you're willing to study for the SAT. In fact, I know some people who got high scores on the PSAT and became somewhat arrogant and lazy when it came time for the real thing

[czarina84]

I took it.  I didn't do very well because I'm dyslexic.  When I took the practice tests, I did very well, but the real tests are timed.  That killed me because I didn't have enough time to "translate" what I was seeing into real words. 

[EstherGibbs]

Oh, I remember when I was taking it. It was so stressful!

[TerryHall]

For me it was pretty easy! But I started my preparation in advance, maybe it helped that much!

[StephenKnighten]

For me, it was not that hard to prepare for college. I was a good student all my school years, and it was pretty easy to pass it. But now, when I'm a student, it's not that easy anymore. I have more tasks, more information to remember, more tests to pass and so on. But it's okay; it's all part of the journey. The hardest thing for me for now is writing different papers, but I am doing my best to improve. And I noticed that it's easier to write something when I have examples, so I always try to find them. This week, I already finished one paper, and this page https://gradesfixer.com/essay-types/personal-narrative-essays/ provided me with different samples of essays I needed to write, and I managed to write a really quality paper. So I'd say minus one problem, but I still need to work on my skills, and I have to write often, so the improvement will happen fast, I hope.

[PatrickHofmann]

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