PSAT Quick Guide Per College Board: PSAT measures what you learn in high school and what you need to be successful in college Helps students to form a game plan for success in the college admissions process No penalty for incorrect answers 4 answer choices No Essay Note to Presenter: Use this PowerPoint presentation to help your students understand their PSAT/NMSQT results and benefit from the feedback provided on their score reports. The notes provided throughout the presentation can be read aloud to students or used simply as reference information. There are 4 major parts to the PSAT/NMSQT Score Report: -Your Scores -Your Skills -Your Answers -Next Steps

How Can I Use My Student Score Report The student score report is designed clearly summarize the student’s current achievement level It’s a practice test… you own the score A college will not see this score…it cannot be used for acceptance to college The purpose of the test is to provide you with an opportunity to learn what is on the SAT and how to take a timed college entrance exam.

The Score Range Total Score: Scale ranges from 240 to 1440. Section Score: Scale ranges from 120 to 720, and 6 to 36 on test and cross- test scores.

How The PSAT Is Scored Students earn 1 point for each question answered correctly. Students neither lose nor gain points for questions answered incorrectly. Students neither lose nor gain points for questions that are skipped

Understanding PSAT Results

Understanding Your PSAT Results Your score Your skills Your answers Your next steps Critical Reading Writing Skills Mathematics

Where Do I Find My Scores You can see your projected SAT score online in My College QuickStart (www.collegeboard.org/quickstart).

Your Scores How Can Ima Improve Her Academic Skills? Your Scores: Next Steps are based on her test scores, and the general skills that similarly performing students understand. Ima can see which skills she performed well on and which she needs to improve. Ima can log in to the full report online to see additional skills and improvement steps. (Note that she must be at least 13 years old to do so.) Ima can also link her account to Khan Academy for personalized practice recommendations. What Are Ima’s Next Steps? Under Get more next steps online, Ima is directed to studentscores.collegeboard.org to learn how to prepare for the SAT with Khan Academy and use her results to create a challenging course work plan in high school.

Your Answers Review Your Answers Section The middle section of the report is the “Your Question-Level Feedbacks” section. When you receive your results, you will also get your test book, the one you used when you took the test. Be sure to ask for your test book if you don’t have it. Use your Test Book: Using your actual test book will help you make the most of the “Review Your Answers” section, since you’ll be able to go back to questions you got wrong and, with the help of the explanations available on www.collegeboard.org/quickstart, figure out why. You can also look at the notes you made in your test book to see how you got to your answer. Four Columns: The Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing Skills sections of your score report all contain the following information. •The first column displays the number of each question as it appeared in the test booklet. • In the second column you will see the answers that you chose: -a checkmark means CORRECT -O means OMITTED -an X shows the incorrect answer you chose •In the third column identifies the level of difficulty of each question. The fourth column is the Cross-Test score

Your Next Steps Use the access code on your report to login to My College QuickStart, a personalized college and career planning kit. There you can: •Search for colleges •Get a personalized SAT study plan •Take a personality test to find majors and careers that fit you www.collegeboard.org/quickstart My College QuickStart My College QuickStart is a free personalized college planning kit based on your PSAT/NMSQT results. Your kit has four parts: •My Online Score Report: Review your online PSAT/NMSQT Score Report—you'll be able to sort answers and explanations by difficulty and question type. You'll also be able to view projected SAT score ranges, state percentiles, and more. •My SAT Study Plan: Prepare for the SAT with a customized study plan based on your strengths and weaknesses, as determined by your PSAT/NMSQT performance.* •My College Matches: Get a starter list of colleges to explore based on the information you provided when you took the PSAT/NMSQT. Refine and customize your list to fit the college criteria that are important to you. •My Major & Career Matches: View a personalized list of suggested majors and careers, based on the information you provided when you took the PSAT/NMSQT. Use MyRoad to take a personality test and learn more about majors and careers that fit your strengths and interests. * My SAT Study Plan is only available to high school students.

Resources For Students Professional School Counselors: Khan Academy- Partnered with College Board to offer free practice sessions and informational videos. Visit www.khanacademy.org to sign up

How To Set Up Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/ If students are under 13 years of age, their parent/guardian will have to create a Khan Academy account.

Sample Test Scores https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/sample-psat-nmsqt-score- report.pdf