First kudos and then a question. My first two kids used your original book, and they both PWNed the SAT. In fact, my son got an 800 in math as a sophomore. So, thank you!! My question is about the new PSAT. I am eagerly waiting for your new book for my youngest, but in the interim I was wondering if you had a feel for how much Algebra 2 was going to be on the new PSAT. Thank you.

First, WOW! Congrats—and thanks for letting me be a part of it. 🙂

It’s tough to get much of a feel for the new PSAT with only one sample test out there to scrutinize. From the one we have, though (test | answer key), it appears that many of the hardest questions, especially in the no calculator section, will involve polynomials in some way, which I think for most people falls into Algebra 2 territory. Top scorers will probably need to be pretty solid on polynomial operations: multiplication, long division, and factoring.

That said, last time the test changed, in 2005 (and it changed less significantly that time), the first sample test they put out didn’t end up being such a great predictor of the finished product. Hopefully we get some more information before the real PSAT in October, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.