PSAT or SAT?
What’s the difference between the PSAT and the SAT?
This is a question I get every year and for good reason! You would think the PSAT is just the “pre SAT.” In a way, it is. PSAT is an acronym for the Preliminary SAT and is given to U.S. students in their freshman through junior years to help them prepare for the SAT.
However, in October of a U.S. student’s junior year, the PSAT administered is also the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). This can get confusing to people because they wonder, “how can a preliminary test also be a scholarship qualifying test?”
What’s worse, the PSAT/NMSQT is administered near the beginning of one of a high school student’s busiest years! National Merit candidates must also have high grades which means they have to balance their course load with their PSAT prep.
Hi, my name is Lydia Terry and I am the designer of the Cognitive Agency Approach to test prep. I have been helping hundreds of students get the SAT and ACT score they deserve for the past 10 years. Every year in September, I get asked so many questions about the PSAT that I am going to attempt to answer here. I am going to try to explain how the PSAT relates to both the SAT and the National Merit scholarship to, hopefully, reduce anxiety by clearing things up and answering questions.
Question 1 - So what is the PSAT and how does it relate to the SAT?
Both the PSAT 8/9, the PSAT 10, the PSAT NMSQT, and the SAT are in College Board’s SAT suite of assessments. Confusingly, College Board has separate sections for the PSAT 10 and the PSAT NMSQT, but they are the same test. The difference is just when they are administered and the purpose. The PSAT 10 is typically administered in the spring of a student’s sophomore year with the purpose of just being a practice test The PSAT NMSQT is typically administered sometime in October during a student’s junior year.
All PSAT tests are intended to prepare a student for the SAT. If they take the PSAT administered in October, they are entered in the National Merit Scholarship Program. In order to win, they need to have a certain score and certain grades. The score required is different in each state.
The scoring for National Merit is actually different than the scoring College Board uses.
What makes it even MORE confusing is that the scoring for the PSAT 8/9, PSAT 10/NMSQT, and the SAT are also different. It’s no wonder I get so many questions!
PSAT 8/9 scores range from 240-1440.
PSAT 10/NMSQT scores range from 320-1520
SAT scores range from 400-1600
The difference of 80 points from each test to the next is supposed to represent the increase in difficulty. College Board says that the score a student receives on a test is an indication of what that student will likely receive on the next test should they stop learning and preparing. This has never really made much sense to students and parents. I have my students add 40-80 points (20-40 for each section score), depending on how well they felt they did, to estimate the next tier up score.
If you’re trying to estimate your Selection Index Score from an SAT score, just subtract 40 points from your subscores since you are likely at the top of the range.
According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s website, roughly the top 1% of scorers on the PSAT NMSQT who also meet the other qualifications, such as high academic performance, will become Finalists, and of the Finalists roughly half of them will receive scholarships. Of course, any financial assistance with college tuition is welcome, but just being a National Merit Scholar Finalist is a boon to any college application. However, it is not going to hurt your application to not have it.
For anyone who is not aiming to be a National Merit Scholar Finalist, the PSAT NMSQT is really just a final look at what score you are likely to get on the SAT if no improvements are made. Colleges don’t expect you to provide your PSAT score on applications. If you’re not pushing for National Merit I recommend you look at the PSAT NMSQT as a chance to practice for the SAT under real test day conditions.
Question 2 - Is the PSAT easier than the SAT?
It depends on who you ask. College Board says they are very similar. I have noticed that there are usually 1 or 2 very difficult problems. I call these the “National Merit Gatekeep” problems. When I am asked this question, I typically say “if you’re aiming for national merit, no. If not, then yes.”
This is because the competition for national merit is TOUGH. When students striving for national merit sit down in October to take the PSAT, they know they cannot make any mistakes. They only get one chance. When they take the SAT, they know they can take the test again if they make too many mistakes. I think that right there is why people are conflicted.
From my review of the test, they are essentially the same.
However, I want to share an SAT question that asks about the vertex form of the parabola and a PSAT question on the same topic. There are both from the former paper tests, but I believe they will show the range of difficulty students will encounter.
On both of these questions, I showed my work.
SAT Question
PSAT Question
See what I mean? The PSAT question is significantly harder than the SAT question on the same topic.
Question 3 - Can I use PSAT questions to prepare for the SAT
or SAT questions to prepare for the PSAT?
Yes! Absolutely.
I have found that students who are not familiar with the PSAT (either their high school doesn’t offer it or they are international students) aren’t aware that practice PSAT tests are available as study material. In fact, one of the only third party resources I recommend for SAT practice is CrackPSAT. The correlating SAT page is convoluted and includes too many outdated links.
That being said…
If you are preparing for the SAT, you only have so many official practice tests in Blue Book. If you aren’t seriously preparing for National Merit, you might want to save the official tests for when you are preparing for the SAT. If you are preparing for National Merit, then I would say go ahead and use all the resources available to you. PSAT prep is SAT prep.
This can often be confusing to plan out. If you need assistance with that, let’s set up a meeting! I do offer free assessments. It works best if caregivers and students are present, so go ahead and click on this link and pick a time everyone can join!
Question 4 - My school doesn’t offer the PSAT. Can I still compete for National Merit?
Yes!
Many students who are homeschooled or attend a school that doesn’t offer the PSAT still want to compete for National Merit. It’s a bit of a process, but generally the PSAT is available to all U.S. High School students.
