Each year, over 1.4 million high school students take the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, also known as the PSAT. This test is meant to help you prepare for the SAT, and to determine your eligibility for a National Merit Scholarship.

The good news is that your scores on this test have no bearing on college admissions, and they won't affect your GPA. The PSAT offers you the chance to improve your test-taking skills with no consequences if you perform poorly. And if you do well, you could win more than bragging rights - you could win free money for college.

Not just another test: understanding the PSAT

Most students take the PSAT at their high school in the fall of their sophomore or junior year. You can ask your school counselor or a teacher when the test will be offered and how to sign up.

Like the SAT, the PSAT is composed of three sections: Math, Critical Reading and Writing (this section includes questions about grammar, usage, and word choice - you do not have to write an essay). The test does not require you to know specific facts like who won the Battle of Gettysburg or how many countries make up the United Nations. You do need to use the abilities that you've developed throughout your education, such as answering questions about a passage of literature or using a math formula to solve a problem.

Many students do not prepare for the PSAT. If you choose to prepare, however, you will gain a significant advantage over your peers.

Top scorers can win scholarships for college

Wining a National Merit Scholarship is no easy task. Each year, approximately 50,000 students (out of 1.4 million) qualify for recognition based on their high PSAT scores. Around 34,000 of these students receive Letters of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. While these letters don't include a scholarship check, they look good to admissions offices and can be listed on your college application.

The remaining 16,000 students or so - those whose scores put them in the top 99th percentile in their state - become National Merit Semifinalists. Of these, around half win scholarships after submitting their high school records, as well as recommendations from teachers and a personal essay. Some students win a $2500 scholarship from the National Merit Corporation, while others may win larger awards from colleges hoping to attract top scorers.

Why take the PSAT?

Even if you do not ultimately qualify for a scholarship, taking the PSAT has several benefits.

Although there are significant differences between the two tests (the SAT is longer and more difficult, for one), the PSAT is great practice for the SAT. Both require you to use your critical thinking skills to answer multiple-choice questions within a fixed amount of time. The more comfortable you are with this format, the better your SAT scores will be.

The PSAT can also give you a general idea of how well you'll do on the SAT. This will help you figure out which colleges to begin considering, as well as which areas of knowledge to brush up on. If you do poorly on the Writing section of the PSAT, for example, you'll know it's time to dust off the vocabulary cards or grammar textbook in preparation for the SAT.

The Princeton Review can help you prepare for the PSAT.

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