ACT & SAT

Preparing for the SAT & ACT

Resources for Practice

10th graders will take the PSAT on October 3 , 2023 this year using the new online digital platform called BlueBook through College Board.  The PSAT for 10th graders is a practice version of the SAT that tests students' skills in reading, writing, and math.  For 10th grade, the PSAT is merely a practice test that will be recorded in their College Board account. Students are encouraged to create an account if they don't have one already.  Students will also take the PSAT their 11th grade year, which could qualify them to receive a National merit Scholarship. 


 Please see College Board's page on preparing for the PSAT10.: https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt/preparing. Here, students can learn about three options for preparing:

Khan Academy

Practice with Bluebook™ App (MacOS, Ipad, Windows)

Practice Tests

Please note that students will spend some time in the College and Career Readiness class familiarizing themselves with the format and will engage in some practice before they take the PSAT on October 3rd.  While the class offers some preparation, the class is not a Test Prep class. In College and Career Readiness, we cover a range of topic. 


Goal

To practice areas of growth for the PSAT the first Tuesday in October using Khan Academy at https://www.khanacademy.org/mission/sat. 


New Digital PSAT fall 2023


DIAGNOSTIC

https://www.ueseducation.com/diagnostic  

KHAN ACADEMY


COLLEGE BOARD: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice/full-length-practice-tests 


FREE ONLINE COURSE  THROUGH LEARNING EXPRESS 

(students should sign in with Meridian google email) https://www.learningexpresshub.com/productengine/LELIndex.html#/center/prepstephighschool/prepareforcollege/home/get-ready-for-the-act 


MCGRAW-HILL  PSAT PRACTICE

https://www.mhpracticeplus.com/psat.php 

TEST PREP REVIEW

https://www.testprepreview.com/sat_practice.htm

VARSITY TUTORS


MATH HELP


Test Prep Services (Outside of Meridian for a fee)

Resources for Practice

Recommended College Admission Testing Timeline



 

Fall – PSAT (one national test date in October): See Meridianś website for details

       Spring - ACT Practice test (in College Readiness)

What is the difference between PSAT and SAT you may ask? They are almost identical except that the PSAT is 15 minutes shorter than the SAT and does not include an essay.  Check out https://blog.collegeboard.org/difference-between-sat-and-psat for more information. 

Fall – PSAT (one national test date in October)

Spring – ACT and SAT (multiple national test dates; students must register)

Meridian offers all 11th graders either the ACT or the SAT in the spring. Meridian usually rotates--one year, SAT, another year ACT.

 

 

Fall – ACT and/or SAT (repeat as needed)

 

 

What are these tests?

ACT - (registration information at: https://my.act.org/account/signin?location=https)

College admissions exam, offered 7 times yearly, September through July, at ACT testing centers

Content includes English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing (Writing may be “optional" on test day, but is required by many colleges)

SAT - (registration information at: http://sat.collegeboard.org/register)

College admissions exam, offered 7 times yearly, August through June, at SAT testing centers

Content includes Reading, Language, Math, and Writing (Writing may be “optional" on test day, but is required by many colleges)

 

ACT Practice test

Practice test for the ACT is administered in the College Readiness class.

 

PSAT

Practice test for SAT

Offered once each fall, on a single date determined by College Board.

The score earned in the fall of the Junior year is used to determine qualification for the National Merit Scholarship Program.

 

SAT Subject Tests

These are hour-long, content-based tests in specific subjects. There are 20 tests available in five general areas: English, history, languages, math, and science. Subject Tests are used in several different ways:

 

 

 

Note: Since all colleges do not use these tests, it is important for students to research their potential colleges to determine whether these are needed. Subject Tests are administered on all SAT testing dates, and are generally taken whenever a student completes the curriculum being tested.



National Merit Scholarship Program

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships based on PSAT scores. 


The top 50,000 scorers are identified for the PSAT.  National Merit semifinalists are the top 16,000 in that group, and are chosen on a state-representative basis so there is no single score for qualifying.  The other 34,000 are named as Commended Students.  These numbers change each year depending on student performance nationwide.


Here's a good synopsis of the National Merit program:

https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=424