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PSAT Question

AgaBoogaBoo

Lifer
Feb 16, 2003
26,108
5
81
What do we do if we don't know what a word means on the PSAT and think it may be the answer?

Teachers said guess if we can narrow it down to two choices
 

ArmchairAthlete

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2002
3,763
0
0
Do what your teacher said.... If you can't eliminate any of the choices and just have no idea about the problem, skip it immediately and move on. If there are some answers that are obviously wrong guess one that looks right.

PSAT doesn't matter unless you think you can score uber high and qualify for that one scholarship, whatever it was. It's practice I guess.
 

TuxDave

Lifer
Oct 8, 2002
10,571
3
71
I forgot how the scoring went, but is there a difference between leaving it blank and putting in the wrong answer?
 

Platypus

Lifer
Apr 26, 2001
31,046
321
136
PSAT is garbage from what I remember.

Did they really tell you to guess? That actually hurts you more if you're wrong. If you don't fill it out at all, it doesn't count against you.
 

jai6638

Golden Member
Apr 9, 2004
1,790
0
0
do u think its necessary to study for it from the study book?? or most of it wont come so im better off not studying??

anything that i should go through in particular?? my psat's tomorrow .. doh.. since theres negative marking, do u think it makes more sense to fill in everything even if im not sure hoping that its corect or leaving it and losing the points that i could scored?

 

Amorphus

Diamond Member
Mar 31, 2003
5,561
1
0
Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
PSAT is garbage from what I remember.

Did they really tell you to guess? That actually hurts you more if you're wrong. If you don't fill it out at all, it doesn't count against you.

Actually, if you can eliminate even one answer out of the five, it is statistically better to guess, since it's 1/4 of a point off for a wrong answer.

Since there are five choices, 1/4pt off for a wrong answer eliminates the chances of Joe Sixpack guessing his way through the exam, since for every 1 out of 5 he may get right, he also gets 4 out of 5 wrong, so it evens out to 0. However, if you can eliminate even one answer, your odds become stacked in your favor for guessing.
 

Amorphus

Diamond Member
Mar 31, 2003
5,561
1
0
Also, yeah, PSAT is useless. It familiarizes you with the type of questions on the SATs, but they're not too useful unless you're going for the national merit scholarship.
 

jai6638

Golden Member
Apr 9, 2004
1,790
0
0
bah ... the test was soo boring.. especially reading the passages... oh well .... is SAT somewhat like this in terms of difficulty of questions or is it worse?
 
Aug 25, 2004
11,151
1
81
if you can't bring most answers down to two choices, you need more practice. the key is not knowing everything but being able to make a good "educated guess" (basically practice your ass off until you can guess like a pro)
 

Furyline

Golden Member
Nov 1, 2001
1,212
0
0
Originally posted by: jai6638
also.. is it out of 160???


cheers

It's out of 240 (3 sections 80 points each). If you get over 210 you've got a good shot at the national merit scholarship.
 

timosyy

Golden Member
Dec 19, 2003
1,822
0
0
Meh .. I got 217 (last year) and didn't make national merit.

If you're taking PSATs this year it means you're taking the new SATs ... good luck with that.

I don't think they're going to be the same unless you also had an essay with your PSATs

Edit: Actually, it may have been a 207. Hmm .. regardless, yeah, scores dont matter unless you're going for national merit
 
Nov 7, 2000
16,403
3
81
scholarships cutoffs differ by state. i hope you are in a dumb one. psat score means nothing unless you qualify for those scholarships, but the math and verbal (not writing) sections are just like SAT, so it is good practice. imo the key to getting a good SAT score is to take the test as many times as u can.
 

jai6638

Golden Member
Apr 9, 2004
1,790
0
0
well didnt have to write any essays or anything so im assuming that they havent changed the PSAT format yet.. i guess they'll do so next year along with the SAT format..