How to Prepare for the PSAT
Junior high and high school students alike are familiar with the Preliminary SAT or PSAT, a standardized test that measures reading, writing and math skills. A PSAT not only helps students prepare for the SAT, but is also helpful in entering good colleges and securing scholarships. Here’s how to prepare for it.
What You’ll Need:
PSAT study guides
Online practice tests
Tutor
Brain food
Familiarize Yourself With The PSAT’s Structure
Knowing the PSAT’s structure and what questions to expect won’t make you panic on exam day. Familiarize yourself with how the test goes. You can buy a good PSAT study guide from a bookstore or borrow one from the library, and answer the questions there. Taking a free practice test over the Internet is also a good idea. You can take online classes, if you like.
Learn PSAT Strategies
There are many strategies you can try to answer the PSAT questions correctly, and with enough practice you’ll learn the most important ones. Learn strategies for narrowing choices to two possible ones, or tactics to eliminate wrong answers. Guessing the answers to questions you don’t know is better than leaving them blank, although this can take up precious time.
Get A Tutor
You don’t have to prepare for the PSAT by yourself. If you often fail in the practice exams, get a professional tutor to help you out. He or she will provide both academic and moral support, to help you deal with the nerve-wracking test.
Prepare Academically
The PSAT will require you to polish up on three factors: Writing, reading and math skills. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.
The exam has passage-based reading and sentence completion questions to test your reading comprehension. Read difficult materials to polish your reading skills, then discuss it with your mentor or tutor.
You’ll encounter sentence and paragraph improvement and sentence error questions in the PSAT. Practice writing, and learn correct grammar and punctuation.
Practice mathematics, especially geometry and algebra. Probability, functions, and data analysis are also important for PSAT.
Relax
The night before the exam is a very crucial time. Tempted as you may be to try another practice test, it’s better if you don’t. You might feel mentally exhausted. Instead, clear your mind. Read a book or watch television. Exercise or do yoga. Get a good night’s sleep, too.
The next morning, eat a hearty and filling breakfast, filled with protein and carbohydrates. Eggs, peanut butter and toast are great. A protein bar can also give you a good boost.
Other Tips
Don’t write overly complicated or awkward answers in the writing portion. Simple is better.
For the math/grid questions, use positive numbers greater than 0 only.
If you don’t know the answer for a question, guess, but do so in an educated way.
Don’t stress it. Feeling anxious and pressured is never a good thing. Be confident that you’ve studied well for this exam.
The PSAT is not something to be afraid of. Just keep these preparation tactics in mind, and you’ll be confident that you’ll ace this exam.