PSAT/NMSQT case studies
PSAT/NMSQT · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The PSAT/NMSQT is one of the in-school assessments in the College Board's SAT Suite, taken at a school rather than at a weekend test center. It is designed for students who want to discover their strengths, explore scholarships, and track how far they have progressed toward college and career readiness. The test has two sections: a Reading and Writing Section and a Math Section. Because it is administered in school, your principal or counselor is the right person to ask whether your school offers it and when. The PSAT/NMSQT case studies are 5 cases and about 1,954 words.
1Evidence and Precision in an Urban Trees Argument
A student is drafting an argumentative essay for a class assignment. The essay claims that planting trees is the most effective way to lower summer energy costs in cities.
429 words, about 2 min2Comparing Gym Membership Costs
A fitness center offers two membership plans. Plan A charges a 40 joining fee plus 25 per month.
350 words, about 2 min3Fixing Dangling Modifiers and Comma Splices
A student is editing a draft paragraph about the discovery of penicillin. The draft contains these two sentences: 'Having discovered penicillin in 1928, the antibiotic’s widespread use did not occur until the 1940s.' And: 'The discovery was accidental, Fleming noticed mold had killed bacteria in a petri dish.' The student wants to fix errors in sentence structure and punctuation without changing the meaning.
399 words, about 2 min4Scaling and Expanding a Community Garden
A community garden is shown on a rectangular map with dimensions 6 cm by 9 cm. The map scale is 1 cm = 2.5 m.
366 words, about 2 min5Synthesizing Two Studies on Sleep and Memory
Two short texts discuss sleep and memory. Text 1 reports a study in which students who slept 8 hours after learning a list of words recalled 25% more words than students who slept 4 hours.
410 words, about 2 min