1. The Preliminary SAT (PSAT) The National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT)

2.  Ardrey Kell will administer the PSAT to all 10 th and 11 th grade students on Wednesday, October 15, 2014.  A Practice PSAT will be administered to all 9 th grade students, and scores will be entered into Triumph.  October 15 th is a PSAT National Testing Day for all 10 th and 11 th grade students.  For AK, it will be a full instructional day, with 3 rd and 4 th block following the completion of the PSAT.

3.  The PSAT/NMSQT helps students by:  Measuring academic skills needed for college  Identifying skills that need improvement  Providing access to scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation based on PSAT scores  Providing good practice for the SAT  Predicting, based on scores, how well you will succeed in an Advanced Placement (AP) class

4.  PSAT/NMSQT scores are used as an initial screener for students to be entered into the National Merit Scholarship Program  Only Juniors who take the PSAT will be considered for this program based upon their PSAT scores.  Out of 3.5 million students taking the PSAT, about 1.5 million high-scoring students will qualify for this program  Only 8,900 national finalists will be awarded scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Program – It could be you!!

5.  The PSAT/NMSQT tests the academic skill areas of:  Critical reading  Mathematics  Writing skills.  The PSAT/NMSQT consists of five sections, and will take approximately 3 hours to complete.

6.  Has two 25-minute sections  48 Total Questions  13 Sentence Completion Questions  35 Questions Based on Reading Passages

7. Measures a student’s ability to:  Analyze and evaluate the text  Determine the meaning of words/vocabulary skills  Draw conclusions  Use reasoning and inferences to understand the text  Identify the main idea and supporting details  Understand literary elements and the organization of a text

8.  Has two 25-minute sections  38 Total Questions  28 Multiple Choice Questions  10 Student Response Questions (Fill in the Grid)

9. Math concepts tested:  Number and operations (20-25%)  Algebra and functions (35-40%)  Geometry and measurement (25-30%)  Data analysis, statistics, & probability (10-15%)

10.  One 30-minute section  No essay  39 Total Questions  14 Identifying Sentence Errors  20 Improving Sentences  5 Improving Paragraphs

11.  Multiple Choice Questions:  1 point for each correct answer  Lose ¼ point for each incorrect answer  Student Response/Fill in the Grid  1 point for each correct answer  O points for each incorrect answer  Omitted Questions  O points for questions not answered  Scale: 20-80 for each test section

12.  Students will receive their scores at school in December  Students can receive access to online scores and tools through My College QuickStart TM and MyRoad TM.

13.  Report to homeroom (same location as the ACT last week)  Students need to bring:  Two No. 2 pencils with erasers  A calculator  Novel  No cell phones or electronics allowed in the testing room!!

14.  Read the whole question and ALL of the answer choices  Answer all of the questions you know first  Mark the questions you do not know, so you can go back to them if you have time  Use the test booklet for scratch work, and put the work next to the question/problem  Eliminate answer choices before choosing your final answer  Check to make sure the answer you are marking on the answer sheet is the same number you are working on in the test booklet

15.  Review the Official Student Guide to the PSAT/NMSQT that you received last month  Visit the College Board website:  www.collegeboard.org www.collegeboard.org  Visit the National Merit Scholarship Program website:  www.nationalmerit.org www.nationalmerit.org