How to use this book

PSAT/NMSQT Prep 2020 - Princeton Review 2020


How to use this book

Congratulations on taking this important step in your college admissions process! By studying with Kaplan, you’ll maximize your score on the PSAT/NMSQT, a major factor in your overall college application.

Our experience shows that the greatest PSAT score increases result from active engagement in the preparation process. Kaplan will give you direction, focus your preparation, and teach you the specific skills and effective test-taking strategies you need to know for the PSAT. We will help you achieve your top performance on test day, but your effort is crucial. The more you invest in preparing for the PSAT, the greater your chances of achieving your target score and getting into your top-choice college.

Are you registered for the PSAT? Kaplan cannot register you for the official PSAT. If you have not already registered for the upcoming PSAT, talk to your high school guidance counselor or visit the College Board’s website at www.collegeboard.org to register online and for information on registration deadlines, test sites, accommodations for students with disabilities, and fees.

The PSAT/NMSQT is administered on only two days in mid-October. Therefore, students should be registered well in advance of the test dates. Your high school guidance counselor may also have more information about registering for the PSAT. Homeschooled students can contact the guidance office of a local high school to make arrangements to take the exam at that school.

PRACTICE TESTS

Kaplan’s Practice Tests are just like the actual PSAT. By taking a practice exam, you will prepare yourself for the actual test day experience. One of your Practice Tests is included in this book and the other one can be accessed online. See the “Digital Resources” section below to learn how to access your online Practice Test.

CHAPTER ORGANIZATION

The chapters in this book follow a standard format to make this book as easy to use as possible. Most chapters in this book start with a section called “How Much Do You Know?” that allows you to get a sense of how comfortable you already are with the material in the chapter. Answers and explanations follow immediately in the “Check Your Work” section. Each lesson in a chapter starts with a question typical of the way the PSAT tests a given topic and ends with a set of practice questions called “Try on Your Own.” There is yet another practice set at the end of each chapter called “How Much Have You Learned?” to reinforce the concepts explained in the chapter. Answers and Explanations for the “Try on Your Own” and “How Much Have You Learned?” sections are provided at the end of each chapter for easy reference.

SMARTPOINTS®

Different topics are worth different numbers of points on the PSAT because they show up more or less frequently in questions. By studying the information released by the College Board, Kaplan has been able to determine how often certain topics are likely to show up on the PSAT, and therefore how many points these topics are worth on test day. If you master a given topic, you can expect to earn the corresponding number of SmartPoints® on test day.

We have used a 600-point scale for SmartPoints® because that’s the number of points you can earn within the Math and Verbal subscores: the PSAT scoring scale is 160—760, so there are 760 − 160 = 600 points to be earned within each major section of the test. The breakdown of SmartPoints® for Math, Reading, and Writing and Language are summarized in the following tables. Keep in mind that these values are approximate because testing administrations differ.

Math

SmartPoints® Category

# of Points

Sub-Categories

Linear Equations

110

Linear equations, linear graphs, word problems

Functions

105

Functions, graphs of functions, functions in word problems

Ratios, Proportions, and Percents

80

Setting up a proportion to solve for an unknown, unit conversion, calculating percent and percent change

Quadratics

60

Quadratic equations, parabolas, modeling data, mixed systems of equations

Statistics and Probability

60

Descriptive statistics, probability, tables and charts, data samples

Systems of Linear Equations

45

Systems of equations, number of possible solutions

Geometry

35

Triangles, circles, 3-dimensional figures

Inequalities

35

Inequalities, graphical representations of inequalities

Scatterplots

35

Scatterplots, lines of best fit, modeling data

Exponents, Radicals, Polynomials, and Radical Expressions

25

Exponents, radicals, polynomial operations, graphs of polynomials, modeling growth and decay, rational expressions/equations

Imaginary Numbers

5

Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing complex numbers

Trigonometry

5

Sine, cosine, tangent

TOTAL

600


Reading

SmartPoints® Category

# of Points

Sub-Categories

Inference questions

90

Making deductions

Command of Evidence questions

60

Citing evidence

Detail questions

45

Finding details in the text

Vocab-in-Context questions

45

Determining the meaning of a word as it is used in the passage

Function questions

40

Explaining why the author included a certain detail

Global questions

20

Determining central ideas and themes, summarizing

TOTAL

300


Writing & Language

SmartPoint Category

# of Points

Sub-Categories

Sentence Structure

85

Correcting run-ons and fragments, using correct conjunctions, punctuation

Development

85

Precision, relevance, revising text

Agreement

60

Subject-verb agreement, verb tense, pronoun agreement, modifiers, idioms

Organization

40

Transitions, sentence placement

Conciseness

20

Avoiding wordiness and redundancy

Graphs

10

Drawing inferences from a graph included with a passage

TOTAL

300


EXTRA CHAPTERS

The chapters in this book will help you answer most questions on test day, but there is some additional content that will be covered on the PSAT. To cover this content and take your preparation to the next level, we have provided 12 additional chapters online. See below on Digital Resources to learn how to access these helpful extra materials.

DIGITAL RESOURCES

To access the online resources that accompany this book, which include extra practice sets and study planning guidance, follow the steps below:

1. Go to kaptest.com/moreonline

2. Have this book available as you complete the on-screen instructions