PSAT 8/9

Just like the SAT and the other PSAT tests, the PSAT 8/9, which is designed for eighth and ninth graders, contains a Reading Test, a Writing and Language Test, and a Math Test. In terms of the main areas of focus, the content of each section is comparable among the different versions of the PSAT and the SAT.

Although Reading and Writing and Language are two separate sections and two different sets of skills, College Board uses both sections to produce a single Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score. According to College Board, the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section asks you to “interpret, synthesize, and use evidence found in a wide range of sources.” The bottom line: be prepared to justify your selected answer with evidence from the passage and/or graph provided. This test is still not about making up anything, but finding the correct answer based on the text.

College Board also claims that the Math Test “focuses in-depth on two essential areas of math: Problem Solving and Data Analysis, and Heart of Algebra.” The bottom line: expect to see Algebra I (and maybe some Algebra II) and questions with charts, graphs, data tables, scatter-plots, or other forms of data representation provided.

The Math Test is split into two sections: one in which a calculator may be used and one in which it may not be used. Even though a calculator is allowed in one section, it is up to the test-taker to determine whether the calculator will be helpful in solving a question. According to College Board, “students who make use of structure or their ability to reason will probably finish before students who use a calculator.” The bottom line: show your work and use the calculator for tedious calculations, but a calculator will not be necessary to solve a majority of the questions.

All questions in the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section are multiple choice. Most of the Math Test questions are multiple choice, with 18 percent of all Math Test questions in the Grid-In, or student-produced, format. For each question answered correctly, one raw point is earned, and there is no penalty for an incorrect response or a question left blank. The bottom line: don’t leave anything blank!

What’s with All These Scores?

The PSAT 8/9 (and the PSAT 10, PSAT/NMSQT, and SAT) are designed (according to College Board) to reflect how prepared you are for college and for the working world. While we at The Princeton Review may take issue with that claim, this idea does inform both how College Board recommends you prepare and why there are so many different scores on your score report.

College Board maintains that the best way to prepare for the test is to:

• take challenging courses

• do your homework

• prepare for tests and quizzes

• ask and answer lots of questions

College admissions advisors want a “well-rounded” picture of the applicant, so College Board has done its best to meet the demand with its suite of tests. The PSAT 8/9 is more for schools to determine how well-prepared eighth- and ninth-graders are for the other PSATs and the SAT. The PSAT 8/9 provides a measurement of four Evidence-Based Reading and Writing subscores (Command of Evidence, Words in Context, Standard English Conventions, and Expression of Ideas), and two Math subscores (Heart of Algebra as well as Problem Solving and Data Analysis).

In addition to the six subscores reported, College Board now provides two cross-test scores to offer more insight: one score for Analysis in History/Social Studies and another for Analysis in Science. Remain calm; these scores are gathered only from select questions that deal with relevant subject matter and are not actual entire test sections. We will go into PSAT 8/9 scoring in more detail later.

When Is the PSAT 8/9 Given?

The PSAT 8/9 is offered by schools. Schools choose the date to offer the test; this date can be anytime between late September and the end of April, excluding the first two weeks of April.

How Do I Sign Up for the PSAT 8/9?

You don’t have to do anything to sign up for the PSAT 8/9; your school will do all the work for you. Test registration fees can vary from school to school, so be sure to check with your school counselor if you have questions about how much the PSAT 8/9 will cost you.

What About Students with Special Needs?

If you have a diagnosed learning, physical, or cognitive disability, you will probably qualify for accommodations on the PSAT 8/9. However, it’s important that you get the process started early. The first step is to speak to your school counselor who handles accessibility and accommodations. Only he or she can file the appropriate paperwork. You’ll also need to gather some information (documentation of your condition) from a licensed practitioner and some other information from your school. Then your school counselor will file the application for you.

You will need to apply for accommodations only once; with that single application you’ll qualify for accommodations on the PSAT 8/9, PSAT 10, PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, SAT Subject Tests, and AP Exams. The one exception to this rule is that if you change school districts, you’ll need to have a counselor at the new school refile your paperwork.

Does the PSAT 8/9 Play a Role in College Admissions?

No! The PSAT 8/9 plays no role in college admissions. It’s really just a practice test for the SAT.

What Happens to the Score Report from the PSAT 8/9?

Only you and your school will receive copies of your score report. It won’t be sent to colleges.

What Does the PSAT 8/9 Test?

As you begin your prep, it’s useful to remember that the PSAT 8/9 is not a test of aptitude, how good of a person you are, or how successful you will be in life. The PSAT 8/9 simply tests how well you take the PSAT 8/9 (and, by extension, how well you would have performed on the PSAT 10, PSAT/NMSQT, or SAT, if you had taken one of those tests instead). That’s it. And performing well on the PSAT 8/9 is a skill that can be learned like any other. The Princeton Review was founded more than 40 years ago on this very simple idea, and—as our students’ test scores show—our approach is the one that works.

These tests can be extremely daunting. However, remember that any standardized test is a coachable test. A beatable test. Just remember:

The PSAT 8/9 doesn’t measure the stuff that matters. It measures neither intelligence nor the depth and breadth of what you’re learning in school. The PSAT 8/9 is an opportunity to start preparing for the tests that do matter: the PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT.

Who Writes the PSAT 8/9?

The PSAT is created by College Board. You might think that the people at College Board are educators, professors of education, or teachers. They’re not. They are people who just happen to make a living writing tests. In fact, they write hundreds of tests, for all kinds of organizations.

The folks at College Board aren’t really paid to educate; they’re paid to make and administer tests. And even though you may pay them to take the PSAT 8/9, you’re not their customer. The actual customers College Board caters to are the colleges, which get the information they want at no cost, and the middle and high schools, which are often judged based on how well their students do on these tests. Because you, the student, are not College Board’s customer, you should take everything that College Board says with a grain of salt and realize that its testing “advice” isn’t always the best advice. (Getting testing advice from College Board is a bit like getting baseball advice from the opposing team.)

Every test reflects the interests of the people who write it. If you know who writes the test, you will know a lot more about what kinds of answers will be considered “correct” answers on that test.

WHAT IS THE PRINCETON REVIEW?

The Princeton Review is the nation’s leading test-preparation company. In just a few years, we became the nation’s leader in SAT preparation, primarily because our techniques work. We offer courses and private tutoring for all of the major standardized tests, and we publish a series of books to help in your search for the right school. If you’d like more information about our programs or books, give us a call at 800-2-Review, or check out our website at PrincetonReview.com.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book is divided into five parts. The first three parts of the book contain Practice Test 1, general testing strategies, and question-specific problem-solving instruction. Use the first practice test as a diagnostic to see which sections of the test you need to work on when you read through the content chapters. The last part of the book contains drill answers and explanations. After working through the content chapters and checking your answers and the explanations to the chapter drills, take Practice Test 2 (downloadable in your online Student Tools) and apply everything you’ve learned to improve your score. The Session-by-Session Study Guide starting on this page will give you a plan of attack for these tests and the rest of the book. There is no single plan that will fit everyone, so be prepared to adapt the plan and use it according to your own needs.

Practice Test 1 will give you an idea of your strengths and weaknesses, both of which can be sources of improvement. If you’re already good at something, additional practice can make you great at it; if you’re not so good at something, what you should do about it depends on how important it is. If the concept is one that frequently appears on the test, you should spend a lot of time on it; if it comes up only once in a while, you should spend very little time working on it and remember that it’s something you should either put off until you’ve completed easier things or skip entirely.

How do you know what’s important? We’ll tell you throughout this book when we discuss techniques like Plugging In and so forth, but you can also get an idea of what to focus on simply by observing how this book is laid out. The most important concepts appear first in each section of the book. For example, if you’re shaky on reading comprehension, you know you’ll need to devote some time to Reading questions because there are 42 such questions on the test. But if you’re not so confident when it comes to Growth and Decay, don’t panic: Growth and Decay questions appear only in the Advanced Math chapter, which tells you that this topic isn’t as much of a priority as Plugging In or Math Basics.

Time Management

To manage your PSAT 8/9 preparation, make use of the study guide on the following pages. This guide will break down the seemingly daunting task of PSAT 8/9 prep into bite-sized pieces we call “sessions.” We have mapped out tasks for each session to be sure you get the most out of this book. The tests will be the first and last sessions, so you should be sure to plan to have about two and a half hours for these sessions. Most other sessions will last between an hour and two hours, so plan to take a short break in the middle, and if it looks like the session is going to exceed two hours, feel free to stop and pick up where you left off on the next day.

When You Take a Practice Test

You’ll see when to take practice tests in the session outlines. Here are some guidelines for taking these tests:

• Time yourself strictly. Use a timer, watch, or stopwatch that will ring, and do not allow yourself to go over time for any section. If you try to do so on the real test, your scores will probably be canceled.

• Take a practice test in one sitting, allowing yourself breaks of no more than two minutes between sections. You need to build up your endurance for the real test, and you also need an accurate picture of how you will do. However, do take 5-minute breaks after the Reading and Math (No Calculator) sections. On the real test you will have these breaks, so it’s important not to skip them on the practice tests.

• Always take a practice test using an answer sheet with bubbles to fill in, just as you will for the real test. For the practice test in this book and the one online, use the answer sheets provided in your online Student Tools, which you can feel free to print. You need to be comfortable transferring answers to the separate sheet because that’s another skill that will be required on test day.

• Each bubble you choose should be filled in thoroughly, and no other marks should be made in the answer area.

• As you fill in the bubble for a question, check to be sure you are on the correct number on the answer sheet. If you fill in the wrong bubble on the answer sheet, it won’t matter if you’ve worked out the problem correctly in the test booklet. All that matters to the machine scoring the test is the No. 2 pencil mark.

Session-by-Session Study Guide

Session Zero You’re doing this session right now. Finish reading the first chapter, so you’ll know what the test is about, why it is important for you to take, and what to expect from the rest of this book. This step probably won’t take you long, so if you have two-and-a-half hours free after you complete Chapter 1, you can go on to Session One and take the first practice test.

Session One Take Practice Test 1 and score it. You’ll use this result to get an idea of how many questions on each section you should attempt before guessing strategically, and the parts of each section you should concentrate on. Note that our explanations refer to concepts discussed elsewhere in this book, so you may want to wait until after Session Four before reviewing this test.

Session Two Work through Chapter 2 of the Orientation and Chapter 5, Reading Comprehension.

Session Three Read Chapter 6, Introduction to the Writing and Language Strategy, along with Chapter 7, Punctuation.

Session Four Work through the Math Basics in Chapter 10 and the corresponding drills.

Session Five Work through the Math Techniques section in Chapter 11 and associated drills. Take a look at Chapter 8, Words.

Session Six Review Advanced Math, Chapter 12. As you work through this chapter, be sure to apply techniques like Plugging In that you learned in Chapter 11. Since these techniques are central to doing well on the math sections, you can never practice them too much.

Session Seven Work through Chapter 9, Questions. This will give you a good idea of how the PSAT will put together all the things you’ve gone over for the Writing and Language section of the test.

Session Eight Take Practice Test 2. Use the techniques you’ve been practicing throughout the book. Score your test and go through the explanations, focusing on where you may have missed the opportunity to use a technique and your decisions about whether you should have attempted a question or not, given your pacing goals and Personal Order of Difficulty.

Some of the terminology in the study guide may be unfamiliar to you now, but don’t worry, you’ll get to know it soon. Also, you’ll want to refer back to this study guide at each session to keep yourself on track.

One important note: In the Math chapters of this book, some sample questions do not appear in numerical order within a chapter. For example, you might see a question 4 followed by a question 14. This is because on the Math sections of the PSAT 8/9, a higher question number generally indicates a higher level of difficulty (this is not the case with Reading or Writing and Language). Chapter 2 has great advice on how to crack some of the most difficult questions.

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