By: Zadi Perkins

This past Tuesday, October 24th, Gilbert High School’s sophomores and juniors (who signed up) took the PSAT, the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. For the freshmen who have yet to experience the PSAT, you may wonder, what even is it? According to the College Board, the PSAT is a standardized test with English and Math sections.¹ The PSAT was once a physical examination, which was part of where many students' anxiety came from – the unfamiliar style of test – but now, the PSAT, and the SAT, are digital tests. Perfect for our technology-reliant generation.

On PSAT day, all tenth graders receive the joy of waking up at their regular time, arriving at school at their regular time, and heading to an assigned classroom for a two hours and forty-five minute test, with one ten minute break in between the reading and writing sections. Meanwhile, freshmen, many juniors, and seniors, are given the gift of sleeping in and most likely: ditching. Many sophomores express feelings of unpreparedness as the PSAT testing day approaches. Sophomores are made aware of the testing day, prepared to know how to sign in, but no one prepares them for the actual test itself. Zariah Evans⁽¹²⁾, a senior at Gilbert High, recalls that when she took her PSAT sophomore year, “AVID was trying to help us get prepared and everything [but] I did not feel fully prepared until the second time around, honestly.”
However there are resources available to sophomores in order to prepare and reduce the anxiety an unfamiliar test can bring. Many libraries have PSAT prep books that can be borrowed, or there are even online practice tests that students can find.

The main point of sophomores taking the PSAT is to have an idea of what the test is like to give them an idea of whether or not you choose to take the test again junior year in an attempt to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship. The Princeton Review explains that the PSAT you take sophomore year is the same as the one you take junior year; the only difference is one is a National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, while one is not.²

When juniors take the PSAT, they have a chance to receive a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship.
In the end, there’s more to the PSAT than the National Merit Scholarship. While some believe the scholarship is the only point, the reality is that, in a way, the PSAT is meant to prepare students for the SAT. AnnaSophia Lyons⁽¹²⁾, another senior, explains that, “It prepared me in the sense that I knew what to expect. Obviously, you don't want to go into the SAT and have never taken a test in that format before.” Lyons⁽¹²⁾ is referring to the fact that both tests used to be on paper but have now been put into a digital format.

But, the PSAT can still prepare students for the SAT. “The PSAT and the SAT are almost identical,” explains the Princeton Review, “The PSAT is fifteen minutes shorter than the SAT, doesn’t include an essay, and is scored on a slightly different scale. Otherwise, the PSAT has the same question types and tests the same knowledge areas as the SAT.”²

Devrin Wilson⁽¹²⁾ believes taking the PSAT not once, but twice, overall better prepared him for taking the SAT. “I got a better score on the SAT than the PSAT,” Devrin⁽¹²⁾ explains.

Now if you don’t want to take the PSAT for the scholarship or as prep for the SAT, colleges do take PSAT scores into consideration. Zayden Meyer⁽¹¹⁾, a junior who took the PSAT this past Tuesday, signed up for the PSAT because, “I wanted to take it so I could get better scores for college and better scholarships.”