By taking the PSAT and the PLAN , you have already taken your first steps toward college.

1. Understanding your PSAT and PLAN Results One Step Closer to Making Your College Dreams Come True • By taking the PSATand the PLAN, you have already taken your first steps toward college. • Both tests show you the kinds of reading, math and writing skills you will need to succeed in college. • Lue Healy, Effingham County High School, 2013

2. These are PRACTICE TESTS • PLAN=Practice for ACT PSAT=Practice for SAT

3. WHY you took the PSAT and the PLAN • The PSAT and PLAN tests don’t count toward college admission because they are NOT official scores but the results DO give you feedback on the strengths and weaknesses in your education so you can start thinking about colleges, majors and careers • The tests provide preparation for the SAT and ACT: they use the same question types, format, and testing conditions as the real SAT and ACT.

4. Are the ACT and SAT really important? YES Scores from the ACT and the SAT are an important part of your college admissions applications and your scores will help determine where you will be admitted and whether you will be admitted!

5. What is the PSAT? • A sort of pre-SAT that measures academic skills you’ll need for college and predicts a score on the SAT.

6. How does the PSAT compare to the SAT? • Question Types: • The same, except the PSAT does not have an essay component. • Length: • The PSAT is 2 hours, 10 minutes. • The SAT is 3 hours, 45 minutes. • Level of Difficulty: • The PSAT does not have 11th grade-level math questions.

7. Your PSAT Score Report: • Contains information to help you improve your academic skills. • Lists skills that you have the best chance of improving with additional work. • Includes an the Online ACCESS Code at the bottom score sheet to let you access lots of valuable information. Using PSAT Personalized Skills Information may help you score more points in the future!

8. How is the PSAT Scored? • Scale: • 20-80 for each test section • Averages: • 11thGraders: 47-50 • 10th Graders: 43-46 • To approximate SAT Scores: • Add a “0” to the end of your score! • PSAT scores cannot be used for college admission!

9. Understanding Your PSAT Results Just as in the SAT, there are Three Major Scores • Critical Reading • Mathematics • Writing

10. Score range. If you were to take the test again many times, your predicted scores would fall in this range Score Percentile If you are a junior, your scores are compared to those of other juniors. If you are a sophomore or younger student, your scores are compared to those of sophomores. Predicted SAT Score You can see your projected SAT score online in My College QuickStart (www.collegeboard.org/quickstart).

11. Answers Your test booklet has been returned so you can review your answers. 1st column – number of question 2nd column – correct answer 3rd column - √ means correct 0 means omitted Alphabetical letter means incorrect answer you chose 4th column – Level of difficulty E= Easy M= Medium H= Hard Student produced answers: Some math problems required you to grid in answers instead of selecting an option. For these questions, the correct answers are written in here.

12. What is the PLAN? A sort of pre-ACT that measures the same skills you’ll need for the ACT and measures skills you will need for college too!

13. How does the ACT compare to the PLAN? • Question Types: • The same, except the PLAN does not have an essay component. • Length: • The PLAN is 1 hours, 55 minutes. • The ACT is 2 hours, 55 minutes. (plus 20 more for writing section which all Georgia students should take!) • .

14. How is the PLAN Scored? Each of the four sections of the test are scored Math English Science Reasoning Reading Comprehension You can earn a score between 9-32 on each. The scores are averaged together to get a Composite Score

15. Let’s take a closer look at yourPLAN scoreThe Composite score is the average of the four sections of the test – English, math, reading and science.

16. The arrows here show the percentage of students that you scored higher than in the US and in your school on the PLAN

17. How Ready Will I Be for College? PLAN BENCHMARK SCORES Grade 10 PLAN Benchmark Scores English – 15 Math – 19 Reading – 17 Science -21 10th grade students that score at or above the PLAN BENCHMARK scores are likely ON TRACK to develop the skills necessary to be a successful college student in that subject area by the time they graduate from high school.

18. MY SCORES ARE TERRIBLE! Don ’t panic! Remember that you are a 10th grader and not a senior and you are developing more skills every day that will help you test more successfully! Most students will improve their scores when they test again!

19. On the other hand, don’t allow yourself to just give up and say,“ I am a TERRIBLE test taker!” It is important to learn to be a better test taker! • Going to college is going to involve lots of tests! • Most professions and occupations depend on your performing well on a test! These include medicine, nursing, electrician, accountant, engineer, truck driver, police officer, teacher, physical therapist, veterinarian, and hundreds more fields you might choose to enter! Your getting a license in these areas depends on your passing a licensing exam! So start now learning to be a better test taker!

20. HELP! Any suggestions for doing better on the real SAT or ACT? Read! • Continuous reading improves vocabulary and develops essential skills. • Read more books than just those required for class. • Take Challenging Courses! • This will help you to develop and strengthen your critical thinking skills. • Take Some TIMED Practice Tests to Learn to Pace Yourself! • Take the Test Seriously Every Time you Test!

21. Other test strategies that may help improve your score: • When you take the REAL SAT OR ACTremember these tips: • Read all of the directions. • Read all of each question’s answer choices. • Do scratch work in the test book. • PACE yourself – don’t spend too long on any one question!

22. Knowing How and When to Guess Can Also Improve Your Future Score! ACT ??? ??? SAT There is a penalty for guessing If you have NO idea of the answer, leave the question blank! If you can eliminate some answers so you are choosing between three, ALWAYS guess! • Always Guess! • Answer every question even if you don’t have time to get through them all, bubble something in for each question • There is NO penalty for guessing

23. Focus on YOUR strengths when deciding…………. What IS the best test for me to take for college admission?

24. Score Ranges for PSAT/SAT and the PLAN/ACT

25. Let’s compare your test scores! MY PLAN Score MY PSATSCORE Add together your PSAT reading, math, and writing scores. The student we have been using as an example had scores of: 50 Critical reading Math 44 Writing 146 Total PSAT score Find your PLAN Composite Score On your Score Sheet The student we have been using as an example made an 18 ACT Composite Score

26. COMPARE YOUR PLAN and PSAT Scores To find which test you will probably do best on, compare your total three part PSAT score to your Composite PLAN Score using this chart. Which score was higher on the chart? For example, an 18composite on the PLAN would be lower than a 146 on the PSAT! This student should probably take the SAT!

27. Some students don’t need to take the SAT or the ACT! COMPASS, Maybe? Technical and two year colleges Four year Colleges You must take the ACT or the SAT for admission! You cannot use the COMPASS test for admission. You can choose to take an easier test for admission that is usually free called the COMPASS Test.

28. Moving on with your college plans…………… • YOUR PLAN and PSAT booklets and score sheets are valuable resources for helping you prepare for college admissions testing. • Keep them and use them wisely to help make your college dreams come true!