American school exams
Five tracks doing four different jobs. The PSAT/NMSQT comes first and is not an admissions test: it is the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship Program, and an early diagnosis of where you stand. The SAT and the ACT are the admissions tests, accepted interchangeably and differing in shape rather than difficulty — almost nobody needs both. An AP exam ends a college-level course taken at school and can be worth credit or placement. The GED and the HiSET are the two high school equivalency exams, and your state decides which you may sit.
Which track for which situation
- PSAT/NMSQT — if you are sitting it this fall. It has the shape of the digital SAT, pitched a year or two earlier, and it is the only route into the National Merit Scholarship Program.
- SAT or ACT — if you need an admissions score. Colleges that accept one accept the other. The ACT is faster and has an optional science section; the SAT is adaptive between modules. Sit one timed practice test of each before deciding.
- AP — if you are taking an AP course. The exam in May is scored 1 to 5, and what that score earns is set by each college's own credit policy, so read those policies before choosing which exams to sit.
- GED and HiSET — if you are proving high school–level skills without a diploma. Check your state's rules first: the state decides which exam it accepts and issues the credential.
What holds across all of them
- A wrong answer costs nothing on the PSAT/NMSQT, the SAT or the ACT. Never leave a question blank.
- Know your target before you plan. The score your colleges expect, the Selection Index weighting for National Merit, whether science is on your ACT, the credit policies for AP, the pass rules for the GED or HiSET — each of these changes what is worth revising.
- Spend time where the points are. On the SAT, Algebra and Advanced Math are about 70% of the Math section; for the Selection Index, Reading and Writing counts twice as much as Math.
- These materials practice the content, not the test day. They do not reproduce the adaptive modules, the timer or the interface. For that, use the official full-length practice tests each test owner publishes.
How to work with the materials
- Quizzes and flashcards for what has to be recalled or recognized: grammar rules, vocabulary, formulas, dates, processes. Read the explanation even when you were right — telling near-neighbors apart is much of what these tests ask.
- Written answers are not covered. No question bank prepares for the optional ACT essay, the AP free-response section or the GED and HiSET essays. Write them under a timer and read them against the published scoring criteria.
Disclaimer
Zestly is an independent study tool and not a test center. It is not affiliated with College Board, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, ACT, GED Testing Service or PSI Services, which own or run the tests named here. Every question is written by Zestly; no official test material is reproduced. Registration, fees, eligibility and score reporting are matters for those organizations, for your state and for the colleges asking for a score.