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