Score improvement depends on your starting point and effort, but students typically see meaningful gains of 50-150+ points when they work with a tutor on targeted strategies and practice consistently. The key is identifying your specific weak areas—whether that's vocabulary, passage comprehension, or time management—and addressing them systematically rather than studying broadly.

The most common struggles are pacing (running out of time), unfamiliar vocabulary in passages, and distinguishing between answer choices that seem similar. Many students also struggle with inference questions that require reading between the lines rather than finding direct answers in the text. A tutor can teach you strategies to tackle each of these challenges efficiently.

Your first session typically involves a diagnostic assessment—either a practice test section or targeted questions—to identify your strengths and specific areas for improvement. The tutor will discuss your goals, current score range, and timeline, then create a personalized study plan focused on the skills and strategies that will have the biggest impact on your score.

Practice tests are essential because they help you build stamina, identify weak areas, and get comfortable with the test format and timing. Taking full-length practice sections under timed conditions mirrors the real test experience and reveals whether your struggles are conceptual (understanding the content) or strategic (managing time and question types). Your tutor will use practice test results to guide your study focus.

While some vocabulary knowledge helps, the PSAT focuses more on reading comprehension and reasoning than pure vocab memorization. That said, learning common test-level words and understanding how context clues work is valuable. A tutor can teach you efficient vocabulary strategies and help you recognize word patterns that appear frequently on the test.

Most students see noticeable improvement within 4-6 weeks of consistent tutoring and practice, though the timeline depends on your starting score and how frequently you study. The key is regular practice combined with targeted instruction—working with a tutor weekly while completing practice sections between sessions typically yields the fastest results.

Varsity Tutors connects you with expert tutors in El Paso who specialize in PSAT Critical Reading and understand the specific challenges students face. You can discuss your current score, goals, and preferred study schedule, and we'll match you with a tutor who fits your needs. The personalized 1-on-1 instruction focuses on your weak areas rather than generic test prep.