PSAT, SAT, ACT 101
When registering for the SAT or the ACT, students are allowed to send score reports to four universities as a part of the registration fee. Additional score reports may always be sent for a fee.
If at this time a student is not certain of his/her list of top colleges, it is recommended to send score reports to four colleges that he/she may consider.
It’s a good time to visit the “Colleges I Am Thinking About” Tab in Naviance and enter those colleges in that section. Official test score reports MUST be sent from the testing agency to each university’s admissions office and cannot be sent from the student or the high school.
Freshmen and Sophomores
The Preliminary SAT (PSAT) is a preview of the SAT. The PSAT is a standardized test that provides firsthand practice for the SAT. Although these scores are not used for actual college applications, scoring high on the PSAT every year has many advantages. Universities may begin to take a look at students depending on their score range. As a freshman or sophomore, any prep classes or preparation work can have great benefits down the line.
Most college admissions advisors recommend that high school juniors take two SAT Tests during their junior year and one ACT Test in either April or June. Since one difference between the two tests is that the ACT is curriculum-based, juniors have not yet been taught the content they need to do their best on the ACT until the end of their junior year. Having taken each test as a junior, a new senior will not only return in August with three sets of test scores sent to at least four universities on their college interest list, but they will have the knowledge of which test is the best fit for them. Seniors will have the option of taking another SAT or ACT in the fall in plenty of time to meet early college admissions deadlines and with the opportunity to focus their test preparation on the test where they are the most likely to be successful — the SAT or the ACT.
What does the PSAT mean to a high school junior?
The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is a program cosponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). It's a standardized test that provides firsthand practice for the SAT. It also gives students a chance to enter NMSC scholarship programs and gain access to college and career planning tools. As a junior, the PSAT score is actually used across the nation to determine the National Merit Scholars and other levels of high achievement in the PSAT/NMSQT Program.
It is recommended that seniors take the SAT and/or ACT as early as possible to meet admission deadlines for the colleges/universities of their choice. However, if seniors are applying to a college/university that has a late spring or summer admission deadlines, they may continue to take the SAT and/or ACT throughout the spring semester.