PSAT/NMSQT TEST PREPARATION

The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is the best indicator of how well you will do on the SAT. It is a two hour test given to high-school students once a year in October. Almost all students take the PSAT/NMSQT during their junior year, but many students also take the PSAT/NMSQT during their sophomore year.

The PSAT/NMSQT measures the critical reading, math problem solving, and writing skills that you have developed through life. It does not measure creativity. It is designed to predict how well you will perform on the SAT and help you get an early start on preparing for college.

Remember: top PSAT/NMSQT scorers in each state become semi-finalists for National Merit Scholarships.**

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation, is an annual competition that awards approximately 7,000 scholarships for undergraduate study. The cut-off point for semi-finalists and commended scholars varies from state to state but a typical semi-finalist scores in the top one percent of students in their state. Commended scholars typically score in the top four percent. While most of the (approximately) 15,000 semi-finalists become finalists, only half the finalists will receive National Merit Scholarships. Only scores from the PSAT/NMSQT taken in your junior year are considered for the National Merit Scholarship competition.

Taking the PSAT/NMSQT will allow you to:

• compare yourself with other college-bound students around the country
• learn what the SAT will be like and forecast your scores
• Assess any weaknesses you may have in your verbal, math, and writing scores.

On-line registration is not available as the PSAT/NMSQT is administered by high schools. The score reports will be mailed to your high school principal and are usually available to students after Thanksgiving.

The questions asked on your PSAT/NMSQT will be at the same level of difficulty as the SAT. Here are a couple of sample questions. More questions can be found on the SAT Test Preparation pages.

MATH QUESTION.

In December, Elizabeth sold 30 percent more satellite TV subscriptions than she had in November. In January, she sold 20 percent more satellite TV subscriptions than she had in December. The number of satellite TV subscriptions Elizabeth sold was what percent greater in January than in November?
(A) 50
(B) 54
(C) 56
(D) 62
(E) 60

Answer: C.

Explanation: When you have a percent problem and a number is not provided, always choose 100 because it is easy to work with. As you are not given a number for how many subscriptions Elizabeth sold in November, choose 100 as your number.

Therefore, you can say Elizabeth sold 100 subscriptions in November. In December, she sold 30 percent more subscriptions than in November so the number she sold in December is 100 plus 30 percent of 100, therefore 130. In January, Elizabeth sold 20 percent more subscriptions than she sold in December. Therefore, if she sold 130 in December and 20 percent of 130 is 26 then 130 plus 26 is 156, so she must have sold 156 subscriptions in January. The percent that the number of subscriptions sold in January, 156, is greater than the number sold in November, 100, is 56 percent. Therefore the correct answer is (C).

VERBAL QUESTIONS

Analogies.......

SNAKE:SLITHER::
(A) egg:hatch
(B) wolf:howl
(C) rabbit:hop
(D) turtle:snap
(E) tarantula:bite

Answer : C

Explanation: Analogies test your vocabulary and your understanding of word relationships. The pair of words in capital letters are related in some way. Your task is to identify the word pair that is related in the same way as the capitalized pair. Therefore, consider how snake is related to slither. A snake slithers to get around. An egg does not hatch to get around and a wolf does not howl to get around. However, a rabbit does hop to get around, therefore, answer (C), is correct.

Sentence completion.....

Anthropologists have ________________ that early humans may have depended on their sense of smell to _________________ them in communication and the acquisition of food.
(A) decided..control
(B) noticed..affect
(C) hypothesized..assist
(D) suggested..prolong
(E) reflected..thwart

Answer: C

Explanation : You can predict that the first blank is going to mean something like ‘theorized,’ and that the second is going to be something like ‘aid.’ You can eliminate (A) because control doesn’t make sense in the second blank. (B) falls short because anthropologists couldn’t have ‘noticed’ -- a word that implies observation -- something that happened centuries ago. (D) doesn’t work because prolong means to lengthen or draw out -- it has nothing to do with communicating or acquiring food. (E) thwart means to frustrate or defeat, which is the opposite of the word you’re looking for. Therefore (C) hypothesized..assist is the best choice.

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