James River High School: PSAT Night & Beyond

James River High School: PSAT Night & Beyond

The PSAT Writing 30 minutes Critical Reading Math Math 2 Total Time: Critical Reading 2 2 hours, 10 minutes

Understanding PSAT Section Scores Score range is the most accurate measure Percentile rank can be a useful comparison

Total Score (Selection Index) Simply the sum of all three section scores To estimate how this would convert to an SAT score, multiply score by 10

Answer Breakdown Incorrect answers lose points! You can learn from the E/M/H breakdown Use key on left hand side to understand notation Useful for reviewing answers, but there s a better tool

Online PSAT Resource : QuickStart Can view every question from the test An interactive way to use the custom Improve Your Skills information Also has a good college search function, as well as information about different majors and careers

National Merit Scholarship Competition Based on total PSAT score from Junior year Semifinalist varies year to year, state to state somewhere between 201 to 221 Requires a qualifying SAT score (2000+) by fall of the senior year Almost all Semifinalists become Finalists Roughly half of Finalists receive monetary awards

Going from the PSAT to the SAT Length is the biggest difference over 4 hours for the SAT Essay section that wasn t present on PSAT A handful of new Algebra 2 topics in Math

The SAT : Format and Scoring The SAT has three sections : Math, Critical Reading, and Writing Each section is scaled from 200-800 The national average for each section is roughly 500 Scoring One raw score point gained for each correct answer 1/4 raw point taken away for each incorrect multiple choice answer No penalty or gain for omitted questions or incorrect answers on grid-ins

The SAT Reasoning Test Critical Reading 3 20 minutes Math 3 20 minutes Critical Reading 1 Math 1 Writing 2 10 minutes Experimental Section Essay Writing 1 Critical Reading 2 Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes Math 2

The ACT : Format and Scoring The ACT has four sections : English, Reading, Math, and Science. Each section is scored on a scale from 1 to 36 The national average for each section is roughly 21

The ACT Reading 35 minutes Science 35 minutes English 45 minutes Total Time: Math 60 minutes 2 hours, 55 minutes or 3 hours, with optional essay

PSAT vs. SAT vs. ACT PSAT SAT ACT 2 hrs 15 min 3 hrs 45 min 3 hrs 25 min no science reasoning section no trigonometry questions entirely multiple choice no science reasoning section no trigonometry questions non multiple-choice questions included science reasoning section math includes trigonometry entirely multiple choice guessing penalty guessing penalty no guessing penalty math accounts for 33% of your score questions go from easy to hard in most sections math accounts for 33% of your score questions go from easy to hard in most sections math accounts for 25% of your score easy and hard questions mixed within sections

SAT Subject Tests Each test is one hour in length Achievement-based tests, measuring knowledge learned from college-level courses in the following areas: ENGLISH - Literature HISTORY - U.S. History, World History MATH - Mathematics Level 1, Mathematics Level 2 SCIENCE - Biology E/M, Chemistry, Physics LANGUAGES - Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Japanese, Korean

Testing Timeline Sophomore Year Junior Year Senior Year * If applicable

School CR Middle 50% Math Middle 50% Writing Middle 50% Harvard 700-800 700-790 690-790 Duke 660-750 680-790 680-780 Columbia 680-760 680-780 670-760 Tufts 670-750 670-740 670-740 Johns Hopkins 630-730 650-750 630-730 Georgetown 620-730 630-730 630-730 William and Mary 630-740 620-710 620-710 University of Virginia 590-700 610-720 600-700 George Washington 600-690 600-690 600-690 University of Maryland 570-680 600-700 NA Virginia Tech 530-630 570-670 530-630 George Mason 500-600 520-610 NA VCU 480-580 480-580 470-560 Salem State 430-530 430-540 NA Virginia State 410-480 400-480 NA

Test Preparation Find the best option for you: 1) Prep on your own 2) Classroom Program 3) Individual Tutoring 4) Hybrid Program

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