1. PSAT Scores… Now What?
Introduce yourself
Ed Ceja
Executive Director

2. Understanding Your PSAT/NMSQT Results
4 Major Parts of Your PSAT/NMSQT Results
Understanding Your PSAT/NMSQT Results
Your Scores
Your Skills
Your Answers
Next Steps
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
The score report shows how you performed on each of the three sections of the PSAT/NMSQT:
-Critical Reading
-Mathematics
-Writing Skills
3 Test Sections
Critical Reading
Mathematics
Writing Skills 2

3. Your Scores
Score
You can see your projected SAT score online in My College QuickStart (
Score Range
Percentile
If you are a junior, your scores are compared to those of other juniors.
If you are a sophomore or younger student, your scores are compared to those of sophomores.
Your Scores
PSAT/NMSQT scores are reported on a scale from 20 to 80. The sample here shows a score of 50 for the Critical Reading section.
Below the score is a score range. Ranges show how much your scores might vary if you took the PSAT/NMSQT again before gaining new knowledge or skills. In this case, the Critical Reading score would be within 4 points above or below 50. The performance of students with scores between 46 and 54 would be very similar.
Percentiles: How did I do compared to others?
Percentiles help you compare your performance on the PSAT/NMSQT to the performance of all other juniors or sophomores who tested. For example, if you scored in the 55th percentile, you scored higher than 55 percent of students who took the test. It also means that 45 percent of students had a score equal to or higher than yours.
Another way to understand percentiles is to visualize 100 students lined up from the lowest (or first) percentile to the highest (or 99th) percentile. If you are in the 55th percentile, you would be the 55th student in line, scoring higher than 54 students and lower than 45.
Note: Juniors are compared to all juniors who took the test; sophomores and younger students are compared to all sophomores who took the test. 3

4. PSAT and SAT PSAT SCORE CRITICAL READING 52 MATH 51 WRITING SKILLS 53
How can you use your PSAT score to predict how you would perform on the SAT without any additional preparation? Simply add a zero to each of your PSAT scores.
PSAT SCORE
CRITICAL READING 52
MATH 51
WRITING SKILLS 53
TOTAL
156
SAT SCORE
520
530
156

5. National Merit Scholarship Corporation Information
The Selection Index is the sum of your critical reading, mathematics and writing skills scores.
If it has an asterisk, you do not meet all of the eligibility requirements for the competition.
Below your scores, you’ll find information about eligibility for scholarships available through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Each student who takes the PSAT/NMSQT has a Selection Index. The Selection Index is the sum of the Critical Reading, Math, and Writing Skills scores (CR+M+W).
To enter National Merit Scholarship Corporations competitions, you must:
1.        be a full-time high school student;
2.        graduate the following year and enroll in college full-time;
3.        complete grades 9-12 in four years; and
4.        be a U.S. citizen.
If your Selection Index has an asterisk (*) next to it, this means you do not meet all the eligibility requirements for entrance into the competition. Typically, it is because you are not graduating next year.
More than 1.5 million juniors enter this competition each year. About 50,000 qualify for recognition, and about 9,700 of these students receive an award. Be sure to look at your own Selection Index and eligibility when you receive your score report.
The Percentile compares your performance to that of other college-bound juniors.
The Entry Requirements section displays information you provided on your answer sheet. 5

6. Your Skills
Your Skills Section
The “Your Skills” section is a valuable part of your PSAT/NMSQT results, showing you a complete picture of how you performed on the different skills tested by the PSAT/NMSQT. Take a closer look to see where you did well and where you might want to improve.
The same skills are tested on the SAT. To get more practice before you take that test, try the hundreds of practice questions available online at
See how you did on each skill. The same skills are tested on the SAT.
You can try hundreds of practice questions, organized by skill, online in My College QuickStart ( 6

7. Your Answers
You will get your test book back with your PSAT/NMSQT results, so that you can review the questions.
You can also review each test question in My College QuickStart.
Review Your Answers Section
The middle section of the report is the “Review Your Answers” 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 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.
The second column displays the correct answer to each question.
In the third column you will see the answers that you chose:
-a checkmark means CORRECT
-O means OMITTED
-an alphanumeric letter shows the incorrect answer you chose
In the fourth column we see the letters E, M, or H, which identify the level of difficulty of each question.
-E means EASY questions
-M means MEDIUM difficulty
-H means HARD (the most difficult questions on the test)
Remember: This test is for high school juniors who are preparing for college, so it’s possible that an E or easy question might seem difficult to younger students. 7

8. Your Answers: Student-Produced Responses
Some of the math problems required you to grid in answers instead of selecting an option. For these questions, you will see the correct answer(s) written out.
Review Your Answers: Mathematics Student-Produced Responses
Not all the math questions on the PSAT/NMSQT are multiple-choice. The Math section contains Multiple-Choice and Student Produced Response Questions, or “grid-ins”. Here, you solved problems and then recorded answers on a grid.
Only answers gridded in the ovals are scored. You receive no credit for answers, even correct ones, written in boxes and not gridded or gridded incorrectly. 8

9. Next Steps Other useful info:
Use the access code on your report to log in 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
Your Educational Plans
Read this section to see how well your future plans match your current interests and skills, as well as the courses you will be taking.
On your answer sheet, you provided:
grade average
a college major of interest
Your report gives a description of what college students learn and do with the major you indicated. It also notes skills important to that major and high school courses you should take. 9

10. National Merit Scholarship
Awarded to the top 1% of students
Automatically entered if you meet the criteria
Other criteria considered such a grades and official SAT scores
The numbers change by state, but if your SI is 220 or higher, you are usually in the running (DC is closer to 230) to make semi-finalist
Commended
In late September, more than two-thirds (about 34,000) of the approximately 50,000 high scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT® receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise. Commended Students are named on the basis of a nationally applied Selection Index score that may vary from year to year and is below the level required for participants to be named Semifinalists in their respective states. Although Commended Students do not continue in the competition for National Merit® Scholarships, some of these students do become candidates for Special Scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses.
Semi-Finalist
In early September, about 16,000 students, or approximately one-third of the 50,000 high scorers, are notified that they have qualified as Semifinalists. To ensure that academically talented young people from all parts of the United States are included in this talent pool, Semifinalists are designated on a state representational basis. They are the highest scoring entrants in each state. NMSC provides scholarship application materials to Semifinalists through their high schools. To be considered for a National Merit® Scholarship, Semifinalists must advance to Finalist standing in the competition by meeting high academic standards and all other requirements explained in the information provided to each Semifinalist.
Finalist
In February, some 15,000 Semifinalists are notified by mail at their home addresses that they have advanced to Finalist standing. High school principals are notified and provided with a certificate to present to each Finalist.
Types of Merit Scholarship Awards
National Merit® $2500 Scholarships Every Finalist competes for these single payment scholarships, which are awarded on a state representational basis. Winners are selected without consideration of family financial circumstances, college choice, or major and career plans.
Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards Corporate sponsors designate their awards for children of their employees or members, for residents of a community where a company has operations, or for Finalists with career plans the sponsor wishes to encourage. These scholarships may either be renewable for four years of undergraduate study or one-time awards.
College-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards Officials of each sponsor college select winners of their awards from Finalists who have been accepted for admission and have informed NMSC by the published deadlines that the sponsor college or university is their first choice. These awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study.

11. Why the SAT is changing ACT is more popular than SAT nationwide.
ACT is winning the test race!
ACT is more popular than SAT nationwide.
More states using ACT as high school exit exam

12. Biggest Changes CATEGORY CHANGE OVERALL
New SAT will look a lot like the ACT, but harder
TIMING
3 hours without essay (3 hours, 50 minutes with essay)
SCORING
No penalty for wrong answers
1600 composite with separate essay source
MATH
Less middle school content and more advanced concepts
2 sections – one allowing calculator and one not allowing calculator
More grid-in (not multiple-choice) questions
ESSAY
Optional and 50 minutes instead of 25 minutes
VOCABULARY
More familiar words, but testing multiple meanings in passages
DOCUMENTS
Analyze historical documents and speeches
GRAMMAR
Tested in passages and includes punctuation

13. Where could your scores take you?
School
Average SAT
Average ACT
Boston University
1970 29
Columbia University
2230 33
Georgetown University
2220
McGill University
2070 31
New York University
1950
Northwestern University
2160 32
Ohio State University
1860 28
UCLA
University of Florida
1890 27
University of Michigan
2030 30
University of North Carolina
1940
University of Texas at Austin
Washington University (St. Louis)
Edit for your local market.
You must understand a few things here.
Average scores are not cut-off scores. I am not saying that if you don’t score at least 1970 on the SAT or 29 on the ACT that you won’t get into Boston University. Averages represent the middle 50% of scores of students who were admitted. That means some students’ scores were higher and some were lower.
The most important factor for colleges is your transcript. If you don’t have the grades, then even perfect test scores are not going to help you get in. However, if you do have the grades, then you want to make sure your scores are good enough to be in the ballpark for admissions and not give the schools an easy reason to reject you over someone else who also has good grades.
The scores you need to help you get into a school may not be the same as the scores you want in order to get merit-based financial aid. That’s the best kind of aid, because it’s a grant that you don’t have to pay back. Many schools award merit-based aid based on test scores. This applies to schools that are test optional. They may not require you to submit test scores for admission, but they may still look at test scores for financial aid purposes.
Scores are not just about getting in. High scores can help you get $ for college.

14. Recap Sophomores/Class of 2017: Take current SAT or ACT
Use your PSAT scores to decide if you will take the current SAT
If yes, prep over the summer and take the test in Fall 2015
If no, then focus on prepping and taking the ACT

15. Your Personal Testing Timeline
This can be complicated and depends upon:
The Princeton Review can help you create a personalized prep plan
What Tests You Take
SAT, ACT, Both
SAT Subject Tests
Admissions Strategy
Applying early decision
Goal Score
Are you close /far away?
Busy Calendar
Fall, winter or spring activities
Can we drop the sub bullets?? Just talk to them??

16. What do these tests really measure?
The tests DO NOT measure your intelligence.
High GPAs don’t always equate to high test scores
Don’t take PSAT scores personally – it’s way too early in the game to worry about these
The tests measure how well you take tests. Intelligent practice WILL help you increase your scores.
If there is just one thing I want all of you to remember about tonight’s presentation, it is this: DO NOT TAKE YOUR TEST SCORES PERSONALLY. I repeat, do NOT take your test scores personally.
THE MESSAGE:
Tell me if this story sounds familiar: You know a kid who is a great high school student. This girl has a 4.0 grade point average and takes a gaggle of Honors, AP, IB and Advanced high school courses. Additionally, her list of extra-curricular activities reads like the NY Stock Exchange Ticker. She’s a cheerleader, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, a ballerina, a swimmer AND Key Club President. But when she takes the SAT or ACT, she barely makes it over the national average of 1500 or 21 points. In her eyes, her SAT or ACT score is the one singular thing that will keep her from attending her dream school. Maybe you know this person. Maybe this person is you.
The SAT and cannot be bested simply by knowing what will be on the test.
The biggest mistake anyone can make when studying for the SAT or ACT is to approach the exam as if it were an academic test. students test and test and test week in and week out without spending a lot of time studying the techniques that are needed to do their best on the SAT . It is NOT enough simply to take a practice test every single week. Practice doesn’t make perfect. PERFECT practice makes perfect. You must first understand the test before you even attempt to drill with the test.

17. How are the SAT and ACT used?
These tests are just one part of your college application. Colleges also look at your:
High School transcripts
Academic rigor
Grades
Extracurricular activities
Leadership & curiosity counts
Less is more
Essay
Personal, specific and detailed.
Authentic. Represent your passions/interests
Letters of Recommendation
Identify your fans
Make polite requests ahead of time
Provide ALL necessary materials
Your transcript is by far the most important part of your college application. Transcript means the classes you take and the grades you get in those classes.
Your cumulative GPA is a measure of your daily performance in high school, and it’s probably the first piece of information that an admission committee considers.
College are also looking at academic rigor.
Next we have the essay. This is often the least favorite part of the application, because the topic can be very broad (“Tell us about yourself”) or it can be strangely specific (“If it rained music, what would grow?”) Usually, colleges just want to know more about you, so it’s likely that your topic will be of the “tell us about yourself” variety. It can be tempting to interpret that as “tell us everything about you,” but that’s not what they want. This is the only time that the admissions officers have to chance to hear your voice in your application. Everything else is numbers, bullet points, or someone else’s words. This is your chance to show them who you are.
First of all , you have to write about something personal and authentic. Now is not the time to recycle an essay from an earlier assignment and rewrite bits of it. Imagine that you are talking to an admissions rep, and you need to communicate something genuine about yourself.
This is an important strategy for future college applicants: take as many challenging courses as you can handle, and always do more than the minimum to graduate.
When it comes to extracurricular activities, a common misconception is that more is better on a high school resume. Not true. Admissions officers know what resume padding looks like, so avoid it.
It is important to do something, so make sure you find something to be involved with. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something at school, but it should be something you enjoy.
Finding something you like will help you to stick with it, and that’s something colleges like to see. Remember that they want to build a solid freshman class, so they like to see students who commit to things.
Do well. Earn awards or titles.
Work your way up to a leadership position.
===============================
Colleges want recommendations from teachers unless they say otherwise.
Colleges want to know the student behind the grade. That means class participation and interest in learning are crucial.
Make polite requests ahead of time. It’s a good idea to ask your teachers before school lets out for the summer.
How can you prepare now for great letters of recommendation later?
• Make sure you are participating in your classes where participation is a part of the course
• If you are the shy type, set a goal for yourself to raise your hand at least once a week.
• Don’t be afraid to approach teachers outside of class with questions about the material. But remember, “How can I get an A in this course” is grade grubbing, not a demonstration of your interest in the material.

18. Your College Guidance Options
People you know: HS counselors, parents, friends
The Guides: Thousands of
titles. Our favorites
Online: college websites, rankings and lists give student insights
If there is just one thing I want all of you to remember about tonight’s presentation, it is this: DO NOT TAKE YOUR TEST SCORES PERSONALLY. I repeat, do NOT take your test scores personally.
THE MESSAGE:
Tell me if this story sounds familiar: You know a kid who is a great high school student. This girl has a 4.0 grade point average and takes a gaggle of Honors, AP, IB and Advanced high school courses. Additionally, her list of extra-curricular activities reads like the NY Stock Exchange Ticker. She’s a cheerleader, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, a ballerina, a swimmer AND Key Club President. But when she takes the SAT or ACT, she barely makes it over the national average of 1500 or 21 points. In her eyes, her SAT or ACT score is the one singular thing that will keep her from attending her dream school. Maybe you know this person. Maybe this person is you.
The SAT and cannot be bested simply by knowing what will be on the test.
The biggest mistake anyone can make when studying for the SAT or ACT is to approach the exam as if it were an academic test. students test and test and test week in and week out without spending a lot of time studying the techniques that are needed to do their best on the SAT . It is NOT enough simply to take a practice test every single week. Practice doesn’t make perfect. PERFECT practice makes perfect. You must first understand the test before you even attempt to drill with the test.

19. 30 years of Test Success
Over 4 out of 5 Princeton Review Graduates were accepted into at least one of their top-choice schools.
We raise your scores and give you an edge
Learn content and test-specific strategies
Access to great instructors who have a Ph.D. in every test
Personalized pacing strategies (critical for timed tests)
Strategies for test anxiety that build confidence
Options for your learning style and busy schedule
Score Improvement Guaranteed
3 points on the ACT
200 points on the SAT

20. Q & A
Presenter Contact Information
Ed Ceja
Sarah Davis 20 20