Scholarships are not the only reason for taking the PSAT/NMSQT however. There are other positive reasons for taking it. For example, it’s an excellent way of identifying what strengths and weaknesses you may have. Identifying these can be invaluable as they will reveal which areas you need to apply more study time to when it comes to revising for the SAT.
The PSAT is also a great practice run for the SAT. Even though you may hope to do well enough in the PSAT/NMSQT to qualify for a scholarship, even the experience of sitting it will put you in a good place when it comes to the SAT itself. You will already have some idea of the standard they require, and the kind of questions you can expect to see on the SAT papers.
If you indicate that you want to receive information by ticking the “yes” option for the “Student Search Service” you will get great information from the colleges. This will help you decide which college offers you the best opportunity for the kind of program you hope to follow.
There’s a procedure for being eligible to sit the PSAT which is usually as follows: Find out whether your school has a sign-up form or if you have to do this at community level. Even though the test is taken in a school environment, there may be a sign-up elsewhere in your locality. You will probably not be able to register online, so don’t leave it until the last minute!
Get in contact with the relevant personnel at your school. Ask the guidance counselor who is responsible for organizing the PSAT in your school. You should obtain a copy of the Official Student Guide to the PSAT/NMSQT (free) as this will give you valuable information about preparing for the test.
You will need to pay a fee to sit the PSAT (in 2006 this was $12) — but there may also be an additional fee charged by your school for administration costs. If you have financial difficulty and are unable to pay the fee your school counselor will be able to help you obtain a fee waiver which is possible in some cases. Home schooled students are also eligible for PSAT entrance. Speak to the local high school to make arrangements to take the test on their premises. You will need to do this during the summer so as to ensure you get a place in that October’s test.
If you are in 10th grade and are interested in taking the PSAT as a dry-run ready for the real thing the following year, this is usually allowed. You should note however that the score you receive on this isn’t able to be used the following year as you must be in 11th grade in order for the score to count, but for the purposes of identifying areas you need to work on in order to get the best score possible in the 11th grade test, it’s well worth the practice run during 10th grade.
Although the PSAT isn’t compulsory there are many reasons to take it. The most important of these is that when it comes to sitting the SAT you already have had a chance to test your ability under the strict test guidelines, and will be less nervous than students who are facing this kind of examination environment for the first time.
Terry
Also,What are the best tips and strategies for taking the SAT test?
Dolores
I heard some people with disabilities like myself (ADHD, Bipolar, and Autism) can get the SAT waived - and maybe use an IQ test, to get into college - or some kind of other test. Is it true that you can get the SAT test waived? I make good greats, but everytime I take a test, from my Autism, I always take things literal, and at times, get a very low score - in which is always, invalid for me.
good grades*** my mistake.. lol
Leroy
What you’re supposed to do and what you’ve been taught to do since childhood is put your book down, pick up your dictionary and look up that word, maybe write a little note for yourself after you’ve learned the definition, understand the word and context, understand the passage a little bit better as a whole, and cruise on through your homework that night.
Let me guess that that’s probably not what you would really do if put in that situation. If you’re anything like I was when I was a kid, what you do is you would just skip the word and keep moving. I think the reasoning that you might use to justify that is this:
You say to yourself I’m seventeen years old, I’m a pretty well functioning young adult, I have a driver’s license, I’ve been out, I’ve traveled, I’ve gone to dinner with friends, and I’ve done a bunch of stuff. I’ve never seen this word before so how important could it possibly be? Again, I function well in society, this is a word that is probably some remote obscure history word that I’m never going to hear again for the rest of my life anyway; I’m not going to bother stopping to look this word up and even if I did have the time, it doesn’t make any kind of sense.
Let me tell you something, on a certain level I agree with you 100% because I used to do the same thing. At times when you truly are under a lot of time pressure, it may not actually make sense to stop and look up a word. You’re going to slow yourself down and you’re not going to get to all your homework. If you fall into that thinking of often skipping words because you don’t feel like taking the time because you feel like you’re smart enough and you’ve never seen this word and it’s not that important, you’re like me but do me a favor – ultimately you’re going to struggle on a test like the SAT without a really good vocabulary. You’re going to struggle like I did when I was younger. If you fall into this category, do me a favor – watch part 2 on this series of vocabulary and I want to slowly start to change your mind.
Anna
