PSAT Tips & Strategies

Sentence Completions: Some PSAT sentence completions have two blanks rather than one. If you can guess the meaning of one blank, but not the other, scan the answer choices, looking for the word you’ve guessed. Eliminate the answer choices that don’t include it or a near-synonym, and then guess from what remains.

Analogies: Use the capitalized words in a sentence that expresses the relationship between them. Then test the answer choices by substituting them for the capitalized words in your sentence. The choice that makes sense in your sentence will be the correct choice.

Critical Reading: Look for the main idea of each paragraph. Remember the concept of the "topic sentence"? Your English teacher may have taught you to include one in every paragraph you write. PSAT paragraphs often contain such a sentence that summarizes the central point of the paragraph. When you find one, underline it.

Math Multiple-Choice: If you don’t see your answer listed as one of the choices, it may be the same as one of the choices but written in a different mathematical form. If your answer is a fraction, try changing it to a decimal or percent.

Quantitative Comparisons: You’re trying to figure out the difference between the two columns, so eliminate whatever information they share. For example, if Column A says "35 + 12" and Column B says "35 + 17," cross out the 35’s from both columns and you’ll never have to do a single mathematical function!

Grid-ins: The grid that you will use to fill out your answer does not contain a minus sign, so there is no way to indicate that a value is less than zero. If the answer you come up with is a negative number, check back over your work because you’ve made a mistake.

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