Skills & Strategies for Standardized Testing …

PSAT/NMSQT – Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The test includes five sections: two 25-minute critical reading sections, two 25-minute math sections and one 30-minutes writing section.

Purpose of test:

• To introduce most students to the first standardized test, on the road to college. PSAT/NMSQT assesses knowledge and skills students have acquired both in and out of the classroom.
• To qualify for the National Merit Scholarship which is “an academic competition for recognition and scholarship” (NMSC). Three types of merit scholarships are awarded: a $2,500 Merit scholarship, Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships and College-sponsored Merit Scholarships.

When do you take it?

• While some students take the PSAT/NMSQT in October of their sophomore year, most students take this test in the fall of their junior year. Junior year scores of the PSAT/NMSQT are considered for the National Merit Scholarship Program. The sophomore year test is for practice only.

Reasons for taking the PSAT/NMQST in the sophomore year:

Since this test measures critical reading skills, math-problem-solving skills and writing skills, test results can be used to evaluate each student’s strengths and weaknesses in all these areas. The student then has time to work on the weaknesses to improve their performance for the junior year PSAT/NMQST – the one that qualifies them for the scholarships.

OUR PSAT TEST PREP PROGRAM

PSAT TEST PREP TUTORIALS:

Students enroll in our COLLEGE BOUND PROGRAM at the end of their sophomore year by joining our summer session tutorials that run for 12/13 weeks, starting mid-July. Classes meet once a week, usually over the weekend for three hours – 1 ½ hour math and 1 ½ hour verbal. Class size is limited to 10-13 students and students are organized into classes according to their skill level/previous test scores.

In order to prepare students for the verbal portion of the test, students are taught specific strategies of how to handle each section of the test from sentence completions to critical reading passages. Each week students learn anywhere from 50-70 vocabulary words through proven methods other than the mere memorization of words. Students are also provided thorough overview of grammar/sentence structure skills to prepare them for the “writing” portion of the test.

In math, other than covering the content of the test, students learn explicit concepts and skills to solve problems easily and quickly. The class is taught by a dedicated expert who has developed specific teaching skills not only to impart successful math knowledge, but also to instill test-taking confidence in students.

We believe math is best learned when a teacher is able to boil down difficult problems into simple concepts that can be easily grasped and are fun to learn. Our fifteen years of teaching experience has allowed us to develop specific strategies to help all students.

Most importantly, students enrolled in our PSAT TEST PREP TUTORIALS meet one-on-one with our teachers after test results are received. At this review session, parents and students review/assess and analyze errors made and strategize how to improve performance for the next test.

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