Suddenly, it feels like fall! Leaves are turning, temperatures are dropping (at least some days), and tests and essays are front and center! Today, let’s dig into the PSAT.
If you’re a parent of a student anywhere from grade 11 down to grade 8, you should know about the PSAT – and you should have some idea of what it means for your son or daughter.
Today’s note isn’t an intro to the PSAT. (You can find that here.) Rather, it’s about three specific things I think you should know:
–How your school communicates about the PSAT shouldn’t dictate your strategy.
–There’s a benefit to the test at every level.
–Taking the PSAT seriously does not mean stressing about the PSAT.
First off, there’s a surprising (borderline shocking) amount of variation in how the PSAT is handled from one high school to another.
The PSAT is administered at the high school level, and schools decide when in October they offer it. Some offer it during the school day. Some offer it on the weekend.
More to my point about shock, schools also have considerable flexibility in what they communicate about the test to students and parents. I witness the variation through the eyes of my students and their parents every year, but it never ceases to amaze me.
I’ve heard of schools that give plenty of advance notice and make sure parents are in the loop on the test and its importance. I’ve also heard of schools that inform their students the day of the test: “Hey, you’re going to take a PSAT today.” Some schools and teachers explain what the test means and how students should approach it, and others that essentially say, “Ah, it doesn’t really matter. Just take it.”
Your school might treat the PSAT casually, but please don’t take that treatment as a sign that the test itself has no value. And if your school makes a big deal about it, don’t take that as a sign that your student should be stressed about it.
The right question is: What does the PSAT mean for your particular student?
First, juniors!
The PSAT functions as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, so at the very high end, the PSAT offers a shot at a prominent national award.
The National Merit Scholarship itself is $2,500 – not a huge amount of money in the overall scheme of college costs – but National Merit recognition can unlock substantial merit awards at a good number of colleges and universities around the country. Out-of-state National Merit Finalists can qualify for roughly $91,808 over four years from Florida State University, for example.
Though the program is national, qualification is determined at the state level. As you can likely imagine, some states are a lot more competitive than others. My home state of New Jersey, for example, is one of the most competitive states in the country. Regardless of state, though, 4% of test-takers receive some form of National Merit recognition. If that’s at all within reach, the test is worth a serious attempt!
And for the other 80-96% of juniors?
It’s a free shot at an SAT-like experience.
The PSAT’s format is very similar to the SAT’s. The content is very similar. The test is a bit shorter, and it does not count as an SAT.
That makes it a useful opportunity to take a real standardized test under timed conditions without having to worry about the score going on the student’s SAT record.
For a junior who is just beginning the testing or test prep process, that can be particularly useful. It’s an early opportunity to experience the test, the timing, the pacing, the pressure of working through a long sequence of questions, and the feeling of having to make decisions when the clock is running.
For a student who is already further along in preparing for the SAT (or the ACT), the question becomes how the PSAT fits into the larger testing timeline.
If, for example, a student is preparing for the November SAT, the October PSAT may simply be a useful rehearsal. There isn’t a lot riding on the result. You take the test, you get the experience, and then you continue with the actual SAT plan.
And because PSAT scores aren’t available immediately (they take 4-6 weeks to return), there’s limited value in thinking of the test as an instant diagnostic. And unlike the paper exams of yesteryear, we’ll never see the specific questions the student got wrong. By those standards, a Bluebook official practice test is arguably better: immediate score feedback, immediate access to every question and every right answer.
But there can be considerable value in leaning into the test day experience and in reflecting on it immediately afterward.
How did the timing feel?
Where did your student feel rushed?
Did they have trouble getting started?
Did they manage their breaks and warm-up appropriately?
Did they find themselves running out of gas?
Did they discover that something they thought they understood wasn’t as automatic under timed conditions?
Those observations can fuel test preparation (read: score improvements) right away — no need to wait for scores to arrive.
Notably, none of this requires obsessing over this test! Taking the PSAT seriously does not mean stressing about the PSAT.
A student can walk into the test thinking, “This isn’t a big deal,” and that can be perfectly healthy.
Sophomores, freshmen, and eighth graders
The circumstances are different, and the value is different. Here, it’s largely about demystifying the test.
For a tenth grader, the PSAT can be a useful early exposure to the SAT-style testing environment. A particularly anxiety-filled experience and/or a particularly low score can provide an early note of caution – not alarm, but perhaps a sign that the family should be proactive about the upcoming test prep process (and start exploring options and the timeline by the following spring). For most students, the test will serve more as an early trial run – and an opportunity to consider, “Do I wanna get on top of this thing as soon as possible? Next spring? Or does it make more sense for me to tackle it next summer or fall?” And it’s also not a bad time for a quick gut check: does college feel far away?
For an eighth or ninth grader, I wouldn’t focus much on the score itself. (These students will also likely take a different test, the PSAT 8/9, which has the same structure but is incrementally easier.) I’d put the emphasis on developing a comfort with this form of testing an awareness that these tests will be important in the years ahead.
In all cases, it’s helpful for students to consider:
How does it feel to take this test?
To work under time pressure?
What does the student find easy? What do they find difficult? How do they react to the experience?
Does the test feel intimidating? Manageable? Does the student discover that they actually enjoy this kind of problem-solving?
Those are useful pieces of information. And at this level, the PSAT need not (and almost certainly should not) be a high-stakes performance event. There is value in exposure for its own sake.
And now for the parents! What should you do?
First, find out when your student’s school is offering the PSAT.
It sounds obvious, but because schools vary so much in how they communicate the test, I wouldn’t assume that your student has a clear idea of when it is.
Second, ask your student how they’re thinking about it. Not “Are you ready?” or “Have you studied?” More simply, “What do you think about this test?”
They might say, “I’m not really stressing over it.”
Great – that might be exactly the right attitude.
But I’d follow up with: “Okay. Do you have any sort of plan for it?” That plan can simply be to relax and take deep breaths periodically. It could be to make sure they get through each module without leaving questions blank at the end. It could be to read each question carefully but not get bogged down on difficulty questions.
Whatever the case, a little planning can go a long way! Nothing to obsess over here, but certainly not a test to blow off.
Some things I’m thinking about . . .
A lot of US MBA programs have seen meaningful dips in applications due, in part, to immigration policy changes. Will schools hold the line on their admissions standards and accept smaller classes? Or will they recalibrate their expectations of candidates (i.e. making it easier to get admitted)?
The same background that comes across as "scattered" to one admissions reader (undergrad or grad) comes across as "range" to another. Usually the only difference is whether someone connected the dots for them.
Back with more next week!
Tom