Content and Structure
The content and structure of the PSAT and SAT are quite
similar. Yet there is one big difference between the tests and a
number of minor differences. The biggest difference between the
tests is the presence of a Writing Skills section in the PSAT. This
section appears at the end of the test, and, unlike the verbal section,
it focuses largely on grammar rather than vocabulary.
Questions
The PSAT contains 52 verbal, 40 math, and 39 writing skills
questions. Of the 52 verbal questions, 13 are sentence completions,
13 are analogies, and 26 are reading comprehension: just
as on the SAT verbal, reading comprehension weighs twice as heavily
as the other types of verbal questions. The math section is broken
down into 20 regular -multiple-choice, 12 quantitative comparison,
and 8 grid-ins. Finally, the writing skills section has 19 sentence
error identifications, 14 sentence improvements, and 6 paragraph
improvements. We’ll discuss each of the three types of writing skills
questions in this chapter.
The Five Timed Sections
The PSAT is a shorter test than the SAT, lasting just
two hours and ten minutes. These two hours and ten minutes of mad
PSAT excitement are divided into five different timed sections.
Here’s a look at how the sections are organized and how the questions
are placed within each section:
- one 25-minute verbal section with 6 or 7
sentence completions, 6 or 7 analogies and 13 reading comprehension
questions
- one 25-minute math section of 20 regular multiple choice
- one 25-minute verbal section with 6 or 7 sentence completions,
6 or 7 analogies and 13 reading comprehension questions
- one 25-minute math section with 12 quantitative
comparisons and 8 grid-ins
- one 30-minute writing skills section with all 39 writing
skills questions
The five sections will always appear in this order. There
are no experimental questions.
