Analyzing and Making the Most of Your PSAT Results
Upon receiving PSAT results report, most parents and students focus on scores, percentiles, charts and tables. While charts and tables may offer interesting data about a student’s current level of performance, there is much more valuable data buried in the minutia of the report: The Path to Higher Test Scores on Future Tests.
While there are some differences between the PSAT, SAT and ACT, there is quite a lot of material overlap. The best way to make the most of it is to thoroughly gather all the specific skills (such has “how to use a semicolon,” “rules of exponents”, etc.) that were tested on the questions that a student missed into a single Master List of ACT/SAT Skills to learn.
Your child is going to need two things compile the Master List of ACT/SAT Skills:
The official PSAT exam (available on College Board website
The question-by-question results in your PSAT Score Report (See Below)
Questions 5 and 8 are incorrect. This is valuable information. Use the official PSAT test to identify the specific skills and concepts to learn. Record this information in the Master List of ACT/SAT Skills
After the Master List of ACT/SAT Skills Has Been Made
Once all these specific skills are organized, the student can focus on learning them, and then, when those concepts and skills are tested on the SAT and ACT, the student will have already mastered them.
Below you can an example of an effect Master List of ACT/SAT Skills as well as an ineffective one.
Above is an EXCELLENT example of what a Master List of Skills to Learn looks like – note how specific it is.
Above is a POOR examples of what a Master List of Skills to learn looks like – they are not specific enough. Telling someone that they need to review geometry the most is not helpful. There are 800 pages in a geometry textbook - which ones does the student need to learn?
After Identifying and Learning the Skills
After identifying and learning the skills, the student should then revisit the questions that were not answered correctly on the original PSAT and reattempt them on two or three occasions each to make sure that the concepts have been mastered and reinforced. (Students should also practice with other questions that test the same skills and concepts as well as learn test taking strategies. How to go about that is beyond the scope of this article)
Summary of Steps:
Identify specific skills and concepts of questions that the student got wrong and compile them into the Master List of Skills
Learn the skills and take detailed notes along the way
Reattempt the questions you have previously gotten wrong (at least once) and periodically review the notes
Apply this Strategy Everywhere
The same process applies throughout the process of preparing for the ACT or SAT with each of the practice tests a student takes. In fact, this strategy is broadly applicable and can help student benefit from the rest of his or her education. When a teacher hands a student a corrected test or essay, the teacher has already done the hard part for you: they have identified the skills that a student needs to develop. Imagine how much stronger a student would perform in his or her classes if he or she would:
Compile the list of skills and concepts identified by the teacher into a single Master List of Skills
Take the time to practice those skills and concepts and take notes along the way
Reattempt the questions you have previously gotten wrong (if it was a test) and periodically review the notes before completing future tests or while completing future essays
Hopefully you found this guide useful – both for using the PSAT results to help set your child on the path to ACT/SAT success and for making the most of all test results and essay results in school
If you have any questions or comments or are interested in assistance in building your own Master List of Skills, please feel free to contact Zev.
Parent, Manhattan
GEOMETRY, PRECALCULUS, ACT
"...a great communicator, a calming and dedicated presence, and a knowledgeable and talented teacher."
"...can make even seemingly impenetrable subjects understandable. I recommend him without reservation."
STUDENT RESULTS: 34 on ACT. Improved from 20 to a 31 on ACT math