Cost Of Taking The PSAT

How Much Do You Pay for PSAT and Why?

The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) is the same as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT), and is commonly known as the PSAT/NMSQT. As the names suggest, the test is both a qualifying test for scholarships as well as a preliminary test for the SAT. The test is designed for high school students who are preparing for higher education and want to attend college.

• PSAT CostFee for this test is $14. In order to register for the test, you first need to find out whether your school is administering the test. If your school conducts the test, you need to meet the school counsellor or principal to inform them about registering for the test. You then need to pay the cost to the school in order to complete the registration process for the test.The school might levy an additional charge as part of the registration process. This fee is charged to take care of the administration expenses that the school will incur for administering the test. Schools outside the United States have a shipping surcharge of $3 for each test book ordered.
• Fee WaiversThere are fee waivers available for students who are unable to pay the fees. However, you need to be eligible to be able to avail the fee waiver. Students in the 11^th grade and from low-income families can avail fee waivers.
• Why Pay for PSATThe test is an assessment of the knowledge and skills you have acquired over the years in high school. The test mostly assesses your aptitude in subject concepts; whether you have strong grim over them and that you know how to apply them. It comprises three sections: Critical Reading, Mathematics and the Writing Skills section. The score reports that are provided to you are very extensive and explanatory. They describe your scores using a variety of parameters; thus, not only you receive your scores in each section, you also receive other information such as your scores in comparison to other juniors and sophomores who took the test.Therefore, the fee that you pay to take the test covers all these costs, mostly administrative in nature. Starting from the answer sheets to your score reports, the fee covers all. The cost also includes other miscellaneous expenditures.
• Unused Test Book FeeThe unused test book fee helps to keep the cost of test low for students. The charge is levied because it is an effort to minimize wastage and unnecessary expenditures. Unused test books cannot be returned for a refund. A $3 fee is charged for each unused test book that exceeds 20 percent of the total number of test books ordered. If a school uses at least 80 percent of the test books ordered, they will not incur an unused test fee.For example, if a school orders 600 tests, it will not be charged for 120 unused tests (20% of 600). If the school sends 500 answer sheets for scoring, it will not be charged. Thus, if the school returns 450 answer sheets for scoring, there will be an additional charge of $90 for the 30 unused tests beyond the 120 free unused tests.

  Schools in the U.S. can place their test book orders by 9.00 PM approximately a month before the test but if they need to decrease the quantity, they will need to do so approximately two months before the test. The duration is even shorter for schools administering the test outside the U.S.