PSAT

The Preliminary SAT, also known as the PSAT/NMSQT® (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test), is a preparatory version of the SAT exam. Not used to determine college admissions; intended to help students prepare for the SAT.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The Preliminary SAT, also known as the PSAT/NMSQT® (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test), is a preparatory version of the SAT exam. Not used to determine college admissions; intended to help students prepare for the SAT. Same format as the SAT, but shorter – a test of verbal and mathematical reasoning.

KEY POINTS

  • Students can only take the PSAT once per year, and most students take the test in both 10th and 11th grade.
  • If a student earns a high score on the PSAT his/her junior year, he/she could qualify to receive a National Merit Scholarship.
  • Testing skills in reading, writing, and math, the PSAT is 2 hours and 45 minutes long. Unlike the SAT, the highest score possible on the PSAT is 1520.

RESOURCES

  • (IDOE Update, September 25, 2023):As schools prepare for fall PSAT/NMSQT testing from Tuesday, October 10, through Friday, October 27, staff should refer to the PSAT/NMSQT Milestones resource and College Board’s Best Practices Timeline for guidance. Testing on Monday, October 9, will not be available because College Board is closed for the federal holiday. Note the following deadlines:
    • Monday, September 18: SAT Suite Data Coordinators for schools must upload the initial student registration files no later than three weeks prior to testing. Registration should be validated two to three weeks prior to testing.
    • Monday, September 18: Deadline to order tests for schools to begin testing on Monday, October 16. (Test orders must be submitted five weeks prior to testing.)
    • Monday, September 25: A digital readiness check must be conducted to ensure that devices are prepared for testing no later than two weeks prior to testing.
    • Wednesday, September 27: Register for College Board’s Technical Readiness Webinar from 10 to 11:30 a.m. ET to review technical requirements, application installation, and more.
    • Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) Coordinators should request any relevant accommodations as soon as possible, as the recommended deadline has passed.

    Contact College Board with technical questions and IDOE’s Office of Student Assessment with policy and participation inquiries.

  • (IDOE Update, August 25, 2023): PSAT/NMSQT Preparation Timeline: The PSAT/NMSQT testing window will be held from Monday, October 9, through Friday, October 27. Schools must complete associated tasks by the identified deadline that correlates to their planned testing within that window. Refer to the following reminders and College Board’s Best Practices Timeline for additional guidance.
    • Requests in Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) Online should be made seven weeks prior to testing. For example, schools planning to begin testing on Monday, October 16, should submit requests by Monday, August 28.
    • Test orders should be made in the SAT Suite Ordering and Registration (SSOR) system five weeks prior to testing.
    • Schools should submit initial registration files four weeks prior to testing and validate registrations three weeks prior.
    • Schools may provide PSAT/NMSQT opportunities to homeschool students or students enrolled in non-accredited schools as a community service. All associated costs will be billed to the school.(IDOE Update, August 25, 2023): PSAT/NMSQT Preparation Timeline: The PSAT/NMSQT testing window will be held from Monday, October 9, through Friday, October 27. Schools must complete associated tasks by the identified deadline that correlates to their planned testing within that window. Refer to the following reminders and College Board’s Best Practices Timeline for additional guidance.
    • Refer to IDOE’s PSAT/NMSQT Milestones resource and College Board’s PSAT/NMSQT webpage for additional guidance. Contact College Board with any questions.
  • (IDOE Update, May 19, 2023): Fall 2023 PSAT/NMSQT Administration Guidance: IDOE provides funds for grade 10 and 11 students to participate in the fall 2023 administration of the PSAT/NMSQT. This year, the PSAT/NMSQT will be administered in College Board’s new digital format. The PSAT/NMSQT will be offered during an expanded testing window from Monday, October 9, through Friday, October 27, allowing schools greater flexibility in scheduling their testing. Contact IDOE’s Office of Student Assessment with additional questions.

SHARED WISDOM

  • (Added 9/6/23 Jamie Hartman, Western Boone Jr-Sr High School): When you are in the Test Day Toolkit, under Help, the phone number listed is incorrect.  The number listed (1-877-477-7728) takes you to a scam health insurance line.  The correct number is 1-888-477-7728.
  • (Added 8/23/23 Jamie Hartman, Western Boone Jr-Sr High School): SSD Accomodations:  I ended up calling SSD this morning and the very nice employee directed me to this.  I hadn’t seen it before: https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/digital-psat-accomodations-guide.pdf  It covers a lot of information that isn’t accommodations centered such as how little proctors read and dismissal when time is up even when others are still testing.
  • Q: My principal has asked me to reach out to other schools in regards to what your non-PSAT testers are doing on test day. We are testing all 10th and 11th graders. What creative ideas are you utilizing for your non-testers on PSAT day?
    • A: Our Seniors will be released.  They can do a virtual or in person college visit which they will turn in the paperwork for, or they can just be virtual that day and complete their classwork for their attendance.  Our freshman will operate their regular schedule.  We have just divided our staff into “teachers” and “proctors” for the day. 
    • A: I can’t really help with 9th graders because we test ours. But, for seniors, we sent out a permission slip letting them choose from taking a college visit day, participating in a job shadow, participating in a community service activity, or spending the day working on the Common App and filling out scholarships. Then, if students need service-based or work-based learning for grad pathways, we send them with forms to complete that component on that day. 
    • A: We are having our 9th and 12th grade students do e-learning and not come in the building at all.  That way, we have more teachers to proctor the PSAT and more rooms to be able to social distance. 
    • A: We’re currently using a hybrid schedule, so our students are used to working from home which makes our PSAT day plan doable. We’re testing all sophomores, juniors, and some selected freshmen so only those groups will be in the building. Our seniors have the option of doing college visits (on campus or virtually), job shadowing, or working at their job if they have one. The remaining freshmen will be doing a NearPod lesson involving college and career exploration and accessing our Naviance program that our office is creating for them. We, too, would normally have a career exploration field trip planned for our freshmen, but that’s a no-go for us, too. 
    • A: Virtual day for 9 and 12 
    • A: We test our freshmen.  Our sister school does the PSAT 9 and we do the PreACT 8/9.  Fees are part of book rental.  Seniors have several options. In the past they used the day for college visits/ shadowing which won’t work this year.  This year seniors can do ASVAB, SAT during the school day or virtual learning (with assignments/ articles but no zooming with teachers as teachers will be testing). 
    • A: Last year we allowed our seniors a bonus college visit/job shadowing day. 

CONTENT FEEDBACK

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