Whether your student is in the 8th or 9th grade or is a sophomore or junior, they can benefit from a PSAT class offered by Varsity Tutors. Working with a tutor in PSAT prep classes can be helpful to your student if they are preparing to take the PSAT 8/9, PSAT 10, or PSAT/NMSQT. If you're interested in a PSAT course for your student, feel free to contact Varsity Tutors for more details.
The PSAT/NMSQT serves as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. It was designed to be administered to high school sophomores and juniors during the fall. The PSAT 10 is offered in the Spring. However, this exam would not make your student eligible to become a National Merit Scholar. The PSAT 8/9 is designed for eighth and ninth grade students to identify areas where they may need more academic focus for any college readiness exams they'll take in the future.
The PSAT was designed to help students prepare for taking the SAT by completing preliminary practice exams. Being tutored one-on-one in a distraction-free environment can provide your child with the ideal learning situation for their PSAT class. They won't have to compete for the tutor's attention as they would in a classroom setting. When your child asks any questions, they can receive a timely answer from the tutor.
At the start of the first session in PSAT courses, an assessment of your child's academic skills can be completed. The tutor can ascertain any weak or strong areas so the right lesson plan can be implemented in the PSAT classes. This baseline can be instrumental in helping the tutor establish benchmarks for the study sessions. Tutors want to optimize each lesson so that your student can get the most out of the process and increase their confidence level for taking the PSAT.
There are some variations among the PSAT 8/9, PSAT 10, and PSAT/NMSQT. The chart below shows the differences between these PSAT exams. A PSAT prep course tutor can help your child understand the differences and prepare them for the proper test:
PSAT Exam | PSAT 8/9 | PSAT 10 | PSAT/NMSQT |
Who takes it? | 8th and 9th Grade Students | 10th Grade Students | 10th and 11th Grade Students |
When is the test available? | Fall through Spring | Spring | Fall |
Is the exam National Merit Scholarship eligible? | No | No | Yes |
Are students eligible for other scholarships by taking this test? | No | Yes | Yes |
Both you and your child's time is valuable. We can connect you with a tutor who is flexible with your busy schedule. PSAT prep courses can be taken online through our Live Learning Platform. All you need is a laptop, tablet, or even a smartphone, along with an internet connection for these classes.
Your student will need to have a competency in Reading, Writing and Language, and Math in order to do well on the PSAT. When they take PSAT prep classes, they can learn how to study more effectively so they can retain more of the material. Some students may get nervous when taking standardized tests. This could keep students from performing at their level of potential, but if your student has this issue, a tutor can work with them in the PSAT course to learn relaxation exercises, which can help them calm down and focus on the exam day. Staying calm is important if they want to be able to recall information that they've learned.
Each student has a different learning style. A tutor can work with your student's specific learning needs and abilities to customize lessons that help students learn in ways that work for them. This kind of training helps students comprehend ideas more efficiently.

Kyle: PSAT course instructor
...up as the oldest of five kids, I've spent a large part of my life being a tutor for my siblings. This helped me develop my teaching skills at a young age, and served me well when I became a recitation instructor at University of Colorado Denver, teaching upper-division genetics. My year-long tenure there only deepened my love of teaching and helped me strengthen my abilities to educate many different styles of learners. I also...
Education & Certification
- University of Colorado Denver - Bachelor of Science, Biology & Psychology
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- ACT
- SAT
- Biology
- +46 subjects

Travis: PSAT course instructor
...at the correct answer themselves. Not only does this empower students, but it also gives them a framework to understand and tackle more complex problems outside of tutoring. Additionally, I see no value in simply telling a student that they are wrong, or that they are incorrect. By working with each student through the thought processes and steps that led them to an incorrect answer, they attain a better understanding of why an answer is...
Education & Certification
- University of Southern California - Bachelor in Arts, Political Science and Government
- University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy - Master in Public Health Administration, Master of Public Administration
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- SAT
- ACT
- Elementary School Math
- +34 subjects

Josh: PSAT course instructor
...spicy food. I feel that the most valuable aspect of education is learning how to think in different ways and approach problems from various perspectives. Even if a few years from now, you cannot quite remember how to graph an equation, at one point you thought through how to present information in a form that is easier to visually interpret. The exact meaning of "prestidigitation" might elude you some day, but if you ran across...
Education & Certification
- Stanford University - Bachelor in Arts, Music, Concentration in Composition
- University of Washington-Seattle Campus - Masters, Music Composition
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- ACT
- SAT
- SAT Subject Tests
- +42 subjects

Rebecca: PSAT course instructor
...academically at their highest possible level. I also think it is important that learning is not just for one assignment or one test, but rather that it sticks with you to build a solid foundation of knowledge and confidence that you can carry forward. My favorite subjects to tutor include English, SAT test preparation, math, and psychology. My approach to tutoring is to meet the student where they're at and go from there. I find...
Education & Certification
- Northwestern University - Bachelors, Psychology
- University of Chicago SSA - Masters, Social Work
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- SAT
- ISEE
- ACT
- +53 subjects

Matt: PSAT course instructor
...Health major with a concentration in Immunology and Infectious Diseases. I then went on to complete a Masters program at Georgetown University in human physiology. Given the amount of schooling I have gone through myself, I have taken a wide range of subjects and more standardized tests than I would like to admit. I have taught students of almost every age in various fields such as elementary science, Hebrew, chemistry, MCAT prep, and many more.....
Education & Certification
- Johns Hopkins University - Bachelors, Public Health concentration in Immunology and Infectious Disease
- Georgetown University - Masters, Biophysics and Human Physiology
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- SAT
- Advanced Placement
- SAT Subject Tests
- +85 subjects

Caroline: PSAT course instructor
...student instructor for the General Biology lab course offered at U.C. Berkeley, a prerequisite for students wishing to pursue Biology as a major. Since I have a wide range of teaching experiences in both academic subjects and test preparation, I am highly adaptable to different learning styles and cater my teaching methods to meet student needs. Apart from being flexible, I am also very accessible for additional questions or help that is needed. In my...
Education & Certification
- University of California-Berkeley - Bachelor of Science, Molecular Biology
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- SAT Subject Tests
- SAT
- SAT Subject Test in Biology E/M
- +42 subjects

Tessa: PSAT course instructor
...I'm an undergraduate student at Yale University, with a prospective double major in Mathematics and History. I strive to bring students toward their lightbulb moments not by repeating facts until they're drilled in, but by helping my students understand precisely why the laws of science, the rules of grammar, and the events of history are the way they are, and by lifting the curtain on the intricacies of the subject matter. I believe that learning...
Education & Certification
- Yale University - Current Undergrad, Mathematics and History
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- ACT
- SAT Subject Tests
- SAT
- +106 subjects

Andrew: PSAT course instructor
...have been tutoring since high school, when I tutored students in Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Chemistry. Since then, I have tutored for four years at the college level in both German and Music Theory/Aural Skills. I have also twice co-taught an intensive one-month long German 101 course, where I designed the lesson plans, and graded homework, quizzes and tests. I am a great tutor because of my broad experience in tutoring many different subjects, so...
Education & Certification
- Oberlin College and Conservatory - Bachelors, German Studies and Voice Performance
- DePaul University - Masters, Voice Performance
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- ACT
- SAT
- PSAT Mathematics
- +26 subjects

Rebecca: PSAT course instructor
...graduated from Occidental College with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Comparative Literature, emphasizing critical theory. My tutoring spans a diverse range of experiences: I tutored math at an inner-city school in Los Angeles, English to students in Hyderabad, India, and reading to rehabilitated refugee children in Arizona. After graduating, I instructed reading programs for the Institute of Reading Development, where I saw that, as my students' reading skills improved, their overall confidence skyrocketed....
Education & Certification
- Occidental College - Bachelor in Arts, English
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- SAT
- Social Studies
- Summer
- +31 subjects

Ajay: PSAT course instructor
...developed a keener sense for the hurdles that students sometimes face when learning, as well as the most efficient ways to overcome them. I also developed more patience and empathy through tutoring - I often remembered feeling the same confusion about a topic that my students were feeling the first time I had learned the material. The skills and perspective I developed through this tutoring experience have certainly made me a better educator.
Education & Certification
- Arizona State University - Bachelors, Electrical Engineering
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- AIMS
- GED
- ACT
- +85 subjects

Brianna: PSAT course instructor
...college students through various subjects. I have also worked extensively with special needs children, doing everything from teaching special education to one-on-one in-home mentoring. Through my experiences, I have continued to carry my passion for working with children and have developed my skills in making successful and individualized learning fun. Math, science and test prep are the subjects I'm particularly passionate about tutoring, as I've always loved those subjects myself. Additionally, I've worked extensively with...
Education & Certification
- University of Richmond - Current Undergrad, Business Administration and Management
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- ISEE
- ASPIRE
- SAT 4-Week Prep Class
- +217 subjects

Gabriela: PSAT course instructor
I'm a rising junior at Harvard College. I study African American Studies with a secondary in Women's Studies and I am pursuing a language citation in Spanish. I aspire to one day go to business school. When I am not doing work, I can typically be found reading, writing, or dancing.
Education & Certification
- Harvard University - Current Undergrad, African American Studies
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- ACT
- SHSAT
- SAT
- +66 subjects

Miguel: PSAT course instructor
...Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin, the latter at which I earned a 3.7 GPA, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, and a Bachelor of Arts in English. As for pertinent work experience prior to Varsity Tutoring, I have tutored middle school aged children in English for a year as a part of the PAIR program and helped graduate students from foreign countries practice their conversational English. Please feel invited to...
Education & Certification
- The University of Texas at Austin - Bachelors, Computer Science / English
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- TOEFL
- SAT Subject Tests
- SAT
- +176 subjects

Max: PSAT course instructor
...high school students achieve their academic goals as they work their way towards college. I volunteer in New Haven as a math teacher and coach at a public middle school (my team of 7th graders just won the 2016 New Haven regional championship!), and I've been tutoring middle and high school students for over 7 years. On top of all of that, I'm an aspiring professional in the business world - this past summer I...
Education & Certification
- Yale University - Current Undergrad, Economics
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- ISEE
- SAT
- Advanced Placement
- +104 subjects

Alex: PSAT course instructor
...the most exciting way to learn as well as the best method for producing long-term recall; it also tailors every learning experience to the individual student. I was most inspired to pursue this Socratic style of teaching after taking several courses in college from a professor who had perfected the technique. The majority of his class-time revolved around asking us questions that led us to the points he was trying to make. While not everything...
Education & Certification
- University of Florida - Bachelor in Arts, Anthropology
- Georgetown University - Master of Arts, Conflict Resolution
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- SAT
- SAT Subject Tests
- GED
- +146 subjects

Jaimie: PSAT course instructor
...Northeastern University with my Bachelor's of Science degree in Chemical Engineering. I am currently working in the lab of Professor Robert Langer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working on novel drug delivery systems for the gastrointestinal tract. I am hoping to attend medical school in pursuit of becoming a physician. I am currently interested in pediatrics and psychiatry but I am looking forward to exploring a range of available disciplines. I enjoy tutoring because...
Education & Certification
- Northeastern University - Bachelors, Chemical Engineering
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- ACT
- SSAT
- SAT Subject Tests
- +93 subjects

Ariela: PSAT course instructor
...of my strengths, and one of the reasons that I am good at test taking, is my ability to organize information. It's a skill I use both in my academic life, as well as professionally; as a stage manager, it is often my job to take in complicated and conflicting pieces of information (the blocking, a quick change in costumes, changes in a script) and quickly organize that information so that I can convey it...
Education & Certification
- University of Chicago - Current Undergrad, Theater & Performance Studies
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- Advanced Placement
- ISEE
- SAT
- +50 subjects

Max: PSAT course instructor
...means they have an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. I want to encourage students to always be able to explain why they picked a certain answer or what steps they took to solve a problem. I also want students to have a connection to the material and understand how it relates to their existing knowledge. The more connections we make between concepts, the better understanding we have of the big picture. When I'm not...
Education & Certification
- Ball State University - Bachelors, Biology, General
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- Advanced Placement
- SAT
- ACT
- +62 subjects

John: PSAT course instructor
I graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC in 2008, the oldest English speaking acting conservatory in the world. I graduated Summa from University of St Thomas with a BA in English, and just wrapped up a MS in Data Science from Northwestern. I'm a huge Red Sox fan and love watching detective shows when I have free time.... Positivity. Always. I believe that if a student is given positive tools and is allowed to understand the material rather than be lectured at, they're more likely to do well in the future.
Education & Certification
- American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Associates, Acting
- University of St. Thomas - Bachelor of Fine Arts, English/Drama
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- SAT Subject Tests
- STAAR
- HSPT
- +110 subjects

Andrew: PSAT course instructor
...writing. As a tutor, I will be able to work with you across a broad range of topics. In terms of hobbies and interests, I enjoy discovering new music and collecting records. In the past, I have even hosted my own radio show. I also enjoy kayaking and playing sports including basketball and tennis. In addition, I enjoy cooking and exploring new cuisines, and I try to do this as often as possible.
Education & Certification
- Bucknell University - Bachelor of Science, Neuroscience
- George Washington University - PHD, Cognitive Neuroscience
Subject Expertise
- PSAT
- SAT
- Advanced Placement
- ACT
- +44 subjects