This PSAT/NMSQT cheat sheet distills the digital, section-adaptive test into a printable rundown of the facts College Board rewards most. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free PSAT toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
PSAT/NMSQT exam at a glance
- Questions: 98 administered (90 scored + 8 unscored pretest) — 54 Reading & Writing, 44 Math
- Time: 2 hours 14 minutes (64 min R&W + 70 min Math) plus a 10-minute break
- Score scale: 320–1520 total (each section 160–760); no pass/fail, reported with percentiles
- National Merit: Juniors qualify via the Selection Index = (R&W × 2 + Math) ÷ 10, range 48–228
- Cost: $18 base fee for 2025–26; many schools cover it; fee waivers for eligible 11th graders
What’s on the PSAT/NMSQT cheat sheet
- Reading & Writing — Information and Ideas (~26% of R&W) — central ideas, command of evidence (textual and quantitative), and inferences supported by the passage.
- Reading & Writing — Craft and Structure (~28% of R&W) — words in context, text structure and purpose, and cross-text connections.
- Reading & Writing — Expression of Ideas (~20% of R&W) — rhetorical synthesis from bulleted notes and the transition that fits the logic.
- Reading & Writing — Standard English Conventions (~26% of R&W) — punctuation boundaries, subject-verb and pronoun agreement, and modifiers — the fastest points.
- Math — Algebra (~35% of Math) — linear equations and functions, systems, and inequalities — the single biggest Math domain.
- Math — Advanced Math (~35% of Math) — quadratics, exponentials, equivalent expressions, and function notation.
- Math — Problem-Solving & Data Analysis (~15% of Math) — ratios, rates, percent change, statistics, and reading data tables.
- Math — Geometry & Trigonometry (~15% of Math) — area and volume, angles, right-triangle trig (SOH-CAH-TOA), and circles.
How to use it in your final week
- Lock in the Math formulas the reference sheet doesn't give you — the quadratic formula, slope m = (y₂ − y₁)/(x₂ − x₁), and the 45-45-90 (1 : 1 : √2) and 30-60-90 (1 : √3 : 2) side ratios.
- Front-load Math: Algebra and Advanced Math are ~35% each of the Math section, so master those two domains before anything else on the sheet.
- Drill the fastest grammar points — comma splices, subject-verb agreement, and its vs. it's — since Standard English Conventions rules are finite and quick to bank.
- Read the sheet the morning of your test for a final pass on the memory hooks: no guessing penalty (answer everything), doing well on Module 1 unlocks a harder, higher-scoring Module 2, and the Selection Index doubles your Reading and Writing score.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your PSAT/NMSQT practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
PSAT/NMSQT cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the PSAT/NMSQT cheat sheet is 100% free to download as a PDF, with no sign-up required. It sits alongside Career Employer's free PSAT practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so your whole prep stack costs nothing.
It condenses the highest-yield facts into a quick reference: the two-section digital structure, the 320–1520 score scale, the eight content domains and their weights, the National Merit Selection Index formula, and the must-know Math formulas and grammar rules.
No — the PSAT/NMSQT is scaled and norm-referenced, not pass/fail. Your total runs 320–1520 (each section 160–760) and comes with percentiles, so a 'good' score is one that hits your target and, for juniors, lands in National Merit range. The cheat sheet frames everything around scaled score and percentile, never a cut line.
National Merit uses a Selection Index — (Reading and Writing score × 2 + Math score) ÷ 10, ranging from 48 to 228, so Reading and Writing counts twice. The nationwide Commended cutoff is usually around 207–209, while Semifinalist cutoffs vary by state. Only juniors who take the PSAT/NMSQT can qualify.
Click the download button (or the preview card) at the top of this page to open the PDF instantly. Bookmark the page so you can find it again the week before your October test date.
References
- 1.College Board. “How the PSAT/NMSQT Is Structured — SAT Suite.” satsuite.collegeboard.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.College Board. “The PSAT/NMSQT — SAT Suite of Assessments.” satsuite.collegeboard.org, 2026. ↑
- 3.College Board. “Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Scores.” satsuite.collegeboard.org, 2026. ↑
- 4.College Board. “National Merit Scholarship Program.” satsuite.collegeboard.org, 2026. ↑
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