PSAT/NMSQT®
The Preliminary SAT, also known as the PSAT/NMSQT® (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test), is a practice version of the SAT exam. You can only take the PSAT once per year, and many students take the test in both 10th and 11th grade. If you earn a high score on the PSAT your junior year, you could qualify to receive a National Merit Scholarship—$180 million dollars in merit scholarships are awarded to students each year. The PSAT is 2 hours and 45 minutes long and tests your skills in reading, writing, and math. Unlike the SAT, the highest score possible on the PSAT is 1520.
Source: https://www.kaptest.com/psat/what-is-the-psat
The PSAT/NMSQT® is traditionally offered every October. To access your scores students to have a College Board Account. If your student does not have an account, they will need to create a new one. With a College Board Account, students gain access to free, personalized SAT practice through Khan Academy, tools learn about colleges, majors, and careers, and access to scholarship information.
Students can use this video to learn more about their PSAT/NMSQT®report and how to interpret their score: Understanding Your PSAT Score
If you’re interested in learning about the process for the National Merit Scholarship available to eligible 11th grade students who took the PSAT/NMSQT® more information can be found here: National Merit Competition
THE SAT
The SAT is a multiple-choice, pencil-and-paper test created and administered by the College Board. The purpose of the SAT is to measure a high school student's readiness for college, and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants.
The optional SAT Essay was discontinued after the June 2021 administration.
You can learn more about the SAT and register for the exam here:
College Board
THE ACT
The ACT is an entrance exam used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions. It is a multiple-choice, pencil-and-paper test administered by ACT, Inc.
You can learn more about the ACT and register for the exam on their website: ACT Website
SAT Subject Tests
SAT Subject Tests have been discontinued in the United States, and was discontinued internationally after June 2021. You can read more information here: College Board SAT Subject Test FAQ
Standardized Test Prep
There are many test prep services located throughout the greater Philadelphia area. While DASD does not endorse a particular program, we are happy to share resources that many of our students have utilized.
- Khan Academy: Students can link their College Board and Khan Academy accounts to get automatic personalized recommendations based on PSAT performance, or take diagnostics if they didn't take the PSAT. The Khan Academy will recommend practice to you based on a student's results and allow them to practice other skills any time they'd like, even if we didn't recommend them to you. Video and text explanations will help students learn the skills covered on the test and demonstrate how the test is structured. Students can also take full-length practice exams too.
- SAT Prep Courses: Each year, the high school offers a six week set of courses courses to assist students with preparation for the upcoming SAT. College bound juniors typically take the SAT in the spring of the junior year and repeat the exam in the fall of the senior year, if necessary. Students can sign up for math and/or verbal prep classes. Courses for the current school are announced each year in December, and begin in Jan/Feb. A detailed schedule for the 22-23 school year will be provided at a later date.
- Other popular prep resources are:
Test-Blind and Test-Optional Admissions
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a steady increase in colleges offering test-optional or test-blind admissions. A test-optional college is one that doesn't require students to submit standardized test scores as part of the application process. If the student chooses to send their score, it will be used as part of the admissions evaluation. A test-blind college will not look at a student's standardized test scores even if they send them. While the pandemic has impacted this policy, it is not entirely new. Bowdoin College in Maine first pioneered the test-optional policy back in 1969. Today, colleges in this group include all of the Ivy League universities, most large public universities, and many, many small liberal arts colleges. For a full list of test-optional and test-blind colleges, you are encouraged to visit The National Center for Fair & Open testing at FairTest.org.