ABOUT PSAT
This course is aimed at preparing students aspiring to take the PSAT test. This is a 9 month course for which students meet in 36 weekly sessions of two and a half hours each. Each week, the instruction time is equally divided between the two separate streams – one for Math, and the other for Verbal & Writing. Students have granular enrolment choice to either of the individual streams or for the entire course. Students will acquire, practice and review competencies that are required to perform well and significantly improve their test scores in Math, Writing, Grammar, Critical Reading and Vocabulary. Interactive lecture sessions will be complemented by full length practice tests to build up knowledge, accuracy, speed and confidence. Each test will be scored and reviewed.
In addition to the weekly teaching sessions, supplementary teaching material, practice exercises and homework, the PSAT curriculum includes:
Test Taking Strategies: Students will gain knowledge in test staking strategies and techniques appropriate for a timed, multi-section PSAT test. Students will also learn time-saving techniques, speed/mental math, answering multiple choice questions, how to review for correctness & accuracy, and verification/cross-checking techniques.
Full-length Practice Tests: A baseline test and 5 Full length tests will be administered during the course of the 36 weeks, followed by complete review and analysis of each test. Personalized guidance for special study in specific areas shall be provided to each student.
WHAT IS PSAT
The Preliminary SAT and National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is a standardized, 2 hours and 10 minutes long test administered each October to High school sophomores and juniors throughout the country. It consists of three parts: Critical reading, Math and Writing. It is essentially an abbreviated form of SAT without the essay.
PSAT scores are not used for college admission per-se, but they are used to select National merit scholars. National Merit Scholarship recipient honor is a factor considered by colleges as one of the factors in their admissions decisions. Most students take the PSAT primarily as a “Practice Run” and as an early indicator for the SAT.
The test is for a total of 240, scored in three parts, each for a maximum score of 80, students’ scores ranging from 20-80 in each part.
MATH
Arithmetic: Percentages, fractions, ratios, proportion, primes, exponents, roots, rates, time and distance, sets, subsets, Venn diagrams, and statistical measures.
Algebra: Operations with polynomials, factoring algebraic expressions, multi-variable , linear, absolute value, quadratic equations and solutions, and algebraic inequalities.
Geometry: Properties of complex shapes and structures including angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons and solids. line graphs, slope, statistical data interpretation of tables, charts and graphs.
Probability: Probability and outcome of experiments, Conditional probability, permutations and combinations, unions and intersections
VERBAL & WRITING
Improving Sentences: Rewriting sentences with correct usage of words and grammar.
Improving Paragraphs: Logical Ordering of Sentences. Reordering Scrambled sentences in a paragraph.
Identifying Errors: Identifying errors in usage of words and grammar in any part of a given sentence.
Reading comprehension: Critical reading skills to understand and answer questions concerning main idea, purpose, tone facts and opinions in short and long paragraphs, including comparing and contrasting paired paragraphs
