5 Key Differences Between the PSAT and SAT
The SAT is the most administered college admissions test in the United States and is typically taken by high school students in their junior year or the fall of their senior year. The PSAT is designed and administered by the College Board, the makers of the SAT, but is not part of the college admissions process. Students typically take the PSAT during the fall of their sophomore or junior years, and it serves two primary purposes: as a practice test for the SAT, and as part of the National Merit Scholarship process.
All sophomores and juniors who plan to apply to colleges should take the PSAT seriously, since it can reveal areas to target for improvement for the SAT and ACT, and because it offers exposure to an official testing environment in a low-stakes context.
What Is the PSAT?
The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is part of the SAT Suite, which is designed and administered by the College Board, and students typically take it at their school during the fall of their sophomore or junior year. Two other versions of the PSAT (PSAT 8/9 and PSAT 10) are offered to students earlier in their high school career, but the PSAT/NMSQT is the most widely administered version of the PSAT. It comprises three tests: Reading, Writing & Language, and Math. In recent years, the test has been administered via paper and pencil, taking about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Beginning in Fall 2023, however, the test will be offered digitally, with a total testing time of 2 hours and 14 minutes. Students can learn more about the content and format of the test by exploring the online practice tests offered by the College Board in collaboration with Khan Academy.
What Is the SAT?
The SAT is the most commonly administered college admissions test in the United States. It is typically taken by high school students in their junior year or the fall of their senior year. The SAT contains the same three tests as the PSAT, but it is slightly more difficult and clocks in at just over three hours. It will also be delivered digitally beginning in Spring 2024, with a much shorter total length of 2 hours and 14 minutes, identical to that of the digital PSAT.
Key Differences Between the PSAT and SAT
1. Colleges only look at SAT scores
While the SAT is an important part of the college admissions process, colleges will never see your PSAT scores. For this reason, the PSAT provides an invaluable opportunity to practice for the SAT or ACT and to gain exposure to an official testing environment in a low-stakes context.
2. The PSAT is slightly less difficult
The PSAT is slightly less difficult and slightly shorter than the SAT. However, once both tests are offered digitally in early 2024, they will be identical in length. The digital PSAT will still be somewhat less difficult than the digital SAT, however. While the content covered by the two tests will remain similar, questions on the PSAT will continue to be, on average, slightly less difficult than those on the SAT.
3. Slight differences in SAT and PSAT math tests
While the SAT and PSAT Math Tests contain the same topics, SAT Math Test emphasizes advanced algebra and geometry, while the PSAT emphasizes more basic algebra and data interpretation.
4. Different scoring
The range of scores for the SAT extends from 400 to 1600, with the average score hovering each year between 1050 and 1090. On the PSAT, scores range from 320 to 1520. The median score for 10th graders is 920, and that median score for 11th graders is 1010. There is no conversion formula for translating a PSAT score into its equivalent SAT score. Instead, the College Board has structured it so that PSAT scores share a “common scale” with the SAT. This means that, for instance, a student who reaches a Math score of 530 on the PSAT would likely have achieved the same score on an SAT taken on that same day. Because the SAT is written at an overall higher difficulty level than the PSAT, a perfect PSAT score of 1520 is equivalent to a 1520 on the SAT, which is at the 98th percentile for SAT takers.
5. Going digital in the future
The PSAT will become fully digital in Fall 2023 – several months before the SAT, which will be offered digitally in Spring 2024. Thus, while younger students need only prepare for the digital versions of the SAT Suite, students taking the SAT in 2023 will need to prepare for the paper-and-pencil version of the test.
Additional Considerations
While college admissions offices will never see your PSAT scores, they are used by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) to commend students for high scores and to award some of these students with scholarships. The NMSC uses its own Selection Index, based directly on PSAT scores, to determine which students qualify for three special designations. Commended Students, Semifinalists, and Finalists. In general, students who score in the top 3-4% within their state are named Commended Scholars, while students who score in the top 1% are deemed Semifinalists. In addition to the National Merit Scholarship, there are also corporate-sponsored and college-sponsored scholarships awarded to high-scoring students.
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If you have any questions about the nuanced differences between the PSAT and SAT, about how to interpret and use your recent PSAT scores, or about preparing for next year’s Digital PSAT, please reach out to our team of expert tutors, who can help you navigate the tricky terrain of college admissions.