Understanding PSAT Results

Understanding
PSAT/NMSQT
Results
The PSAT/NMSQT is cosponsored by the College Board and the
National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
5 Major Parts of the Score Report
1. Your
Scores
2. Review Your
Answers
4. National
Merit
Scholarship
Programs
Information
5. Your
Educational
Plans
3. Improve
Your Skills
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
3 Sections of
the Test
Critical Reading - Blue
Mathematics - Orange
Writing Skills - Green
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Section 1: Your Scores
Your Scores
Ranges
46 . . . . . . . . . . . 50 . . . . . . . . . . . 54
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Percentiles
• If you are a junior, your scores are
compared to other juniors.
• If you are a sophomore, or younger, your
scores are compared to sophomores.
More info at
www.collegeboard.com/psatextra
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Percentiles
1 . . . . . . . . . . . 55 . . . . . . . .. . . 100
higher than 54 juniors
6
lower than 45 juniors
Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Section 2:
Review Your
Answers
• Question number
• Correct Answer
• Your Answer
• Level of Difficulty
You will get your test book
with your score report, so
you can review the test
questions.
7
More info at
www.collegeboard.com/psatextra
Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Review Your
Answers:
Math
Also shows the math
content area of each
question:
• Alg = Algebra & Functions
• Data = Data Analysis,
Statistics & Probability
• Geom = Geometry &
Measurement
• Num = Number &
Operations
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Review Your
Answers:
Math StudentProduced
Response
Only answers gridded in the ovals
are scored
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Answer
Summary &
Scoring
• Correct answer = plus 1 point
• Omitted answers = no points
• Wrong answers to multiplechoice questions = minus ¼
point. (To discourage
students from blind or
random guessing.)
• Wrong answers to math
questions 29-38 (Student
Produced Responses) = No
points lost.
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Section 3: Improve
Your Skills
• The skills listed are
based on your individual
performance.
• Follow the suggestions
noted in “how to
improve” and work with
your teachers.
• Review skills using
questions listed
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Section 4: National
Merit Scholarship
Corporation (NMSC)
Programs
• Selection Index
• Percentile
• Entry
Requirements
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Section 5: Your
Educational Plans
Based on the college major you provided
on the answer sheet, this section will give
you:
• Description of what college students
learn and do with that major.
• Associated skills
• Recommended high school courses
More info at
www.collegeboard.com/psatextra
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
After You Receive Your
PSAT/NMSQT Score Report
• Review your
answers by
revisiting test
questions with
which you had
difficulty.
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
After You Receive Your
PSAT/NMSQT Score Report
Your Online Access Code
• Create a free collegeboard.com account
to access MyCollege QuickStart at
www.collegeboard.com/psatextra.
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
At www.collegeboard.com/psatextra:
Free, personalized
resources:
• My SAT Study Plan
• My Online Score
Report
• My College Matches
• My Major & Career
Matches
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
At www.collegeboard.com/psatextra:
Review your online score report:
• Projected SAT scores: what your scores may be on
the SAT
• State percentiles: how you did compared to other
students in your state
• Sort questions by difficulty level and question type
Sort
Questions
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
At www.collegeboard.com/psatextra:
• Free explanations for
the answers to every
test question, including
why the correct
answer is the best
choice.
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
At www.collegeboard.com/psatextra:
Additional practice for the
SAT:
• Practice SAT questions
• Practice SAT essay
• Student-written sample
SAT essays
• Official SAT practice test
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
At www.collegeboard.com/psatextra:
A list of colleges in your
state that offer the
major you’re interested
in.
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
At www.collegeboard.com/psatextra:
View profiles of the major you
chose as well as related majors
and careers.
Connect to MyRoad, an interactive
college and career planning
website. MyRoad comes
complete with major and career
profiles, an online magazine, selfdiscovery tools, a planning
portfolio, and more.
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Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results, 9/06
Slide 1
Today you will learn how to read and use your PSAT/NMSQT Score
Report to prepare for the SAT and for college.
Slide 2
PSAT/NMSQT Score Report
The sample Score Report on the screen is exactly like the one you will
receive. Inside the report are five major parts:
1. Your Scores
2. Review Your Answers
3. Improve Your Skills
4. National Merit Scholarship Programs information
5. Your Educational Plans
Slide 3
PSAT/NMSQT Score Report
Notice that each section of the test—Critical Reading, Math and Writing
Skills—is in its own color-coded column. Let’s learn how the Score Report
is organized by looking closely at the Critical Reading section.
Slide 4
PSAT/NMSQT scores are reported in two-digit numbers: 20
(lowest) to 80 (highest). This shows a score of 50. Below, the score is
represented as a range.
Ranges are good way to think about scores. They show how much your
scores would vary if you took the PSAT/NMSQT again, before gaining
new knowledge or skills. Notice that, in this case, the Critical Reading
score would be within 4 points above or below 50. So, a score of 48, for
example, would be considered similar to a score of 50. Thus, the
performance of students with scores between 46 and 54 would be very
similar.
Slide 5
Percentiles: How did I do compared to others nationwide?
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 all the juniors who took the test. It also means that 45 percent
of juniors had a score equal to or higher than yours.
Note: State percentiles for sophomores/juniors are available online at
www.collegeboard.com/psatextra.
Note: International students are compared to other non-U.S. students.
Slide 6
Another way to understand percentiles is to visualize 100 students lined
up from the lowest (or first) percentile at the end of the line to the highest
(or 99th) percentile at the front of the line. If you are in the 55th percentile,
you would be the 55th student in line, ahead of 54 students in the line and
behind 45.
Slide 7
1. Review Your Answers Section: The middle section of the report is
the “Review Your Answers” section. When you receive your Score
Report, 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.
2. 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 My College QuickStart (www.collegeboard.com/psatextra),
figure out why. You can also look at the notes you made in your test book
to see how you got to your answer.
3. Four Columns: The Critical Reading section contains Sentence
Completions and Passage-Based Reading questions.
• Notice 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, and an
alpha letter shows the incorrect answer you chose.
• In the fourth column of the Critical Reading section 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,
and 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.
Note: In-depth explanations for the answer to every test question are
available at www.collegeboard.com/psatextra.
Slide 8
The “Review Your Answers” section contains the same
information as in the Critical Reading section, but adds an additional
column labeled “Content.”
Though questions often reference more than one content area, here you
will see the primary content area covered by the question: Algebra &
Functions (Alg), Data Analysis, Statistics & Probability (Data), Geometry
& Measurement (Geom), or Number & Operations (Num).
Slide 9
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”. Students solve problems and then record
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.
Slide 10
Just below the “Review Your Answers” table is a breakdown of your
answers. In this example, the student answered 29 out of the 48 Critical
Reading questions correctly and earned 29 points. This section also
shows how many of the 29 correct answers were easy, medium, or hard,
how many the student omitted—1—and finally, how many points were
lost for incorrect answers.
Remember that it is not good to guess on multiple choice questions if you
don’t have any idea what the answer might be. You get ¼ point deducted.
Slide 11
One of the most valuable parts of the Score Report is the “Improve Your
Skills” section, which offers personalized feedback on the academic skills
identified on the PSAT/NMSQT as needing improvement and for which
you have the best chance to improve with additional work.
For each section of the test, Critical Reading, Math and Writing, the Score
Report lists two or three skills that need some improvement, as identified
by answers to questions on the PSAT/NMSQT. Under each skill that
needs work are suggestions for how to improve that particular skill. You
can also review questions that cover these skills.
Follow the suggestions to improve in each area and work with your
teachers for other ways to improve these skills.
Slide 12
In this section we see 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 competition for Merit Scholarships, a student 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 one million juniors enter this competition each year. About
55,000 qualify for recognition, and only about 9,000 of these receive an
award. Be sure to look at your own Selection Index and eligibility when
you receive your Score Report. It usually takes a percentile rank of 96 or
higher to continue in the competition.
Slide 13
Read this part of the Score Report closely to see how well your future
plans match your current interests, skills, and the courses you will be
taking. “Your Educational Plans” contains a combination of information.
On your answer sheet, you provided:
• grade average
• a college major of interest
Based on the major you provided on their answer sheet, the Score Report
gives a description of what college students learn and do with that major.
The Score Report also states the associated skills related to that major,
and the recommended high school courses you should take.
Note: At www.collegeboard.com/psatextra, students will find personalized
lists of colleges, majors and careers.
Slide 14
Take a look at the types of questions you missed and why. Did you miss
easy questions? How did you do the difficult questions? Did you grid in
your answers correctly? Did you take any notes in your test book that
demonstrate your thinking?
Slide 15
You will notice this computer icon throughout your score report.
For the parts of the score report where you see this computer icon, you’ll
receive more information from online resources at My College QuickStart:
www.collegeboard.com/psatextra
Use your individual access code printed on your paper score report (on
the lower right corner of your paper report and next to each computer
icon).
Slide 16
No Notes
Slide 17
Go online for even more help: www.collegeboard.com/psatextra:
A complement to the paper score report, My College QuickStart features:
• Projected SAT scores: What your scores may be on the SAT
• State percentiles: How you did compared to other students in
your state
• Sort Questions: Did you know that you can sort questions by
difficulty level and question type online at
www.collegeboard.com/psatextra? This will make it easier for you
to review questions you answered incorrectly or omitted. You can
also sort questions by level of difficulty so you can see how you
did for each level.
Note: International students will be compared to other non-U.S. students.
Slide 18
No Notes
Slide 19
You can prepare for the SAT and get personalized feedback based on
your PSAT performance by going online
www.collegeboard.com/psatextra:
• Familiarize yourself with the SAT: There is an introduction to the
SAT online
• Review and practice with real practice SAT questions
• Get test taking advice
• Review Math concepts
• You can even sign up for the SAT quickly with pre-filled personal
information
Slide 20
No Notes
Slide 21
You have access to MyRoad until you graduate from high school.
Note: You might want to follow up this presentation with the presentation
on www.collegeboard.com/counselors/psat that shows detail about
MyRoad, to help students get the full benefits of this online career, major,
and college planning tool.