Standardized Testing
PSAT/NMSQT is the Preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. It is given each October to the juniors. You do not need to sign up for the PSAT (St. Andrew's signs up everyone). Scores from the junior year are used for National Merit Scholarship Qualification (NMSQT), and are for student, college advisor and parent reference only. These scores are not sent to colleges. The PSAT is similar in structure and content to the SAT.
SAT Subject Tests are one-hour, multiple choice exams (offered by the College Board, the same company as the SAT) that test your knowledge of specific academic subject areas such as world languages, math, sciences, history, and English literature. Students can choose which tests to take, if any, and the tests are offered six times per year, on the same dates as the SAT, except in March when only the SAT is offered. Language subject tests include a listening section only on the November exam. Some highly selective colleges require two SAT Subject Tests in addition to the SAT or ACT. Most colleges don’t require any subject tests. It is important to know whether you will need subject tests (and which tests you may need) as you make your testing plans, so be sure to check the admission websites of the colleges you are considering. (For example, many engineering programs will require applicants to take Math 2 and Physics or Chemistry.) Although three subject tests can be taken in one sitting, we recommend that you sit for only one or two at a time because it is difficult to be well-prepared to take three at once. |