The "P" is Not the Only Difference
by Justin Dolecki
The Princeton Review
The PSAT is a rite of passage for many high school sophomores and juniors. Like the SAT, the PSAT is a standardized test given to assess math, critical reading, and writing skills (how good of a job these tests do at assessing these skills is open for debate), but unlike the SAT, the PSAT isn’t used to evaluate candidacy for admission to college. And that’s not the only difference.
Here are 5 differences between the PSAT and SAT:
1. It's only practice!
In a student’s life, SAT day falls along the lines of the World Series and Super Bowl all rolled into one. Whereas the SAT is the big game, the PSAT is more along the lines of a scrimmage. It’s great practice but doesn’t count toward the final record.
You see, the "P" in PSAT stands for “preliminary” - the test is meant to give a preliminary idea of how well your child will score on the SAT. But PSAT scores do not predestine SAT scores. Actually many students significantly improve their SAT scores from their PSAT scores through a lot of hard work and preparation.
2. Essay MIA
While both tests pretty much mirror each other, there is one notable exception. The newly added essay on the SAT is nowhere to be found on the PSAT. So if a student is looking for real practice for the SAT essay, their best bet is to look elsewhere, namely test preparation books and courses. (The Princeton Review will be grading SAT essays for free this October. Find out more.)
Another slight content difference is in the math section. The SAT tests math at a higher level – Algebra II. While these more difficult questions are few, they’re nowhere to be found on the PSAT.
3. A Sprint vs. a Marathon
Coming in at 3 hours and 45 minutes, the SAT is a test of endurance. The PSAT on the other hand isn’t nearly as taxing. It clocks in at 2 hours and 10 minutes. While it’s nice to get out of the classroom earlier, the shorter PSAT doesn’t fully prepare a student for the SAT “marathon.” It is essential to take full-length SAT practice tests to build up the necessary endurance.
4. Prestigious Scholarships
Usually when you see the acronym PSAT, you’ll also see NMSQT along side it – which means National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. High scorers on the PSAT (95th – 99th percentile) may qualify for the prestigious National Merit Scholarships and Letters of Commendation. Qualifying for either of these looks great on college applications – one reason why a student may want to put in some study time for the PSAT.
While the SAT is not used as an evaluative tool for this particular scholarship, most other scholarships will use SAT scores as a factor in their decisions.
5. Just Add a Zero
The last big difference between the two tests is how the scores are reported. Each section of the SAT is scored between 200 – 800 for a total maximum score of 2400 (3 sections – Math, Critical Reading, and Writing). The PSAT on the other hand scores each section (once again, 3 sections) between 20 – 80 for a possible score of 240. Just add a zero to a PSAT score to get an approximate idea of its SAT equivalent.
by Justin Dolecki
The Princeton Review
The PSAT is a rite of passage for many high school sophomores and juniors. Like the SAT, the PSAT is a standardized test given to assess math, critical reading, and writing skills (how good of a job these tests do at assessing these skills is open for debate), but unlike the SAT, the PSAT isn’t used to evaluate candidacy for admission to college. And that’s not the only difference.
Here are 5 differences between the PSAT and SAT:
1. It's only practice!
In a student’s life, SAT day falls along the lines of the World Series and Super Bowl all rolled into one. Whereas the SAT is the big game, the PSAT is more along the lines of a scrimmage. It’s great practice but doesn’t count toward the final record.
You see, the "P" in PSAT stands for “preliminary” - the test is meant to give a preliminary idea of how well your child will score on the SAT. But PSAT scores do not predestine SAT scores. Actually many students significantly improve their SAT scores from their PSAT scores through a lot of hard work and preparation.
2. Essay MIA
While both tests pretty much mirror each other, there is one notable exception. The newly added essay on the SAT is nowhere to be found on the PSAT. So if a student is looking for real practice for the SAT essay, their best bet is to look elsewhere, namely test preparation books and courses. (The Princeton Review will be grading SAT essays for free this October. Find out more.)
Another slight content difference is in the math section. The SAT tests math at a higher level – Algebra II. While these more difficult questions are few, they’re nowhere to be found on the PSAT.
3. A Sprint vs. a Marathon
Coming in at 3 hours and 45 minutes, the SAT is a test of endurance. The PSAT on the other hand isn’t nearly as taxing. It clocks in at 2 hours and 10 minutes. While it’s nice to get out of the classroom earlier, the shorter PSAT doesn’t fully prepare a student for the SAT “marathon.” It is essential to take full-length SAT practice tests to build up the necessary endurance.
4. Prestigious Scholarships
Usually when you see the acronym PSAT, you’ll also see NMSQT along side it – which means National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. High scorers on the PSAT (95th – 99th percentile) may qualify for the prestigious National Merit Scholarships and Letters of Commendation. Qualifying for either of these looks great on college applications – one reason why a student may want to put in some study time for the PSAT.
While the SAT is not used as an evaluative tool for this particular scholarship, most other scholarships will use SAT scores as a factor in their decisions.
5. Just Add a Zero
The last big difference between the two tests is how the scores are reported. Each section of the SAT is scored between 200 – 800 for a total maximum score of 2400 (3 sections – Math, Critical Reading, and Writing). The PSAT on the other hand scores each section (once again, 3 sections) between 20 – 80 for a possible score of 240. Just add a zero to a PSAT score to get an approximate idea of its SAT equivalent.
选择“Disable on www.wenxuecity.com”
选择“don't run on pages on this domain”
