Megan Stubbendeck, CEO of ArborBridge, recently joined Elizabeth Heaton of Bright Horizons College Coach for a segment of "Getting In: A College Coach Conversation.” Beth and Megan discussed the PSAT, including whether the PSAT affects college admissions and whether you should prep for it in advance.
Watch Beth and Megan's full conversation below or read on for a sample of their discussion.
BETH HEATON We're going to be talking about the PSAT, and that is typically available to students in their junior year, usually in October. We get a lot of questions about the PSAT, so we're going to talk about it today, and I am thrilled because we have one of my favorite people in the standardized testing world, Megan Stubbendeck, here. She is CEO of ArborBridge, and she's going to join us to talk about the PSAT. Hi, Megan.
MEGAN STUBBENDECK Thanks, Beth. Really happy to be here.
BETH Awesome. Well, why don't we start with some basics? What exactly is the PSAT, and, probably most importantly, does it count for college admissions?
MEGAN All right. I'm going to get to the punchline there. It does not count in college admissions, so many of you who are worried about it can take a sigh of relief. It is not something that you send with your application to college that colleges are really going to be looking at and judging you on.
So, the reason that we take the PSAT is that it's practice. That's what the "P" stands for, actually. It is a practice SAT that's just a shorter version of the SAT, has the same concepts—there's a few high-level things that don't show up on the PSAT that you'll later see on the SAT—but it's a really great way to just get a feel for the SAT you'll take eventually or maybe you won't take. And that's actually why people take it: to just get a diagnostic score to start out and say, "Is testing the right path for me?"
Watch Megan and Beth’s full conversation here to learn more about
- how the PSAT is scored
- whether you should bother prepping for the PSAT
- how the PSAT relates to National Merit scholarships
- whether the PSAT is likely to be administered this year
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About ArborBridge
ArborBridge is the global leader in innovative, digital, one-on-one tutoring. With nearly a decade of experience teaching students online, ArborBridge supports students of all kinds: home schoolers, AP students, test preppers, and more. Our tutors specialize in creating personalized plans and in providing compassionate support for students and families.
