On Oct. 15, Aragon’s sophomores and 158 of its juniors took the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT). The PSAT serves both as a practice test for the SAT and the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship.
“At Aragon, our thought is that you take it in sophomore year, and it just gives you a benchmark of where you are in the college readiness process of testing,” says College and Career Advisor Laurie Tezak. “It’s a good practice test, so I think its definitely a good test just to see where you are.”
Junior John Loar says, “I took the SAT [on Oct. 8], but it would have been helpful to do the PSAT first. [The SAT] is longer and there’s an essay. The vocab was a little bit harder on the actual SAT.”
“I didn’t realize how fast you have to answer questions and decide which ones not to do,” says junior Jared Mayerson. “So I think it was good extra practice for the SAT.”
Statistics show that taking the PSAT improves SAT scores. According to College Board data, on average, juniors taking the PSAT/NMSQT in October 2007 and the SAT the following spring received SAT scores that were 17 points higher in critical reading, 16 points higher in math and 22 points higher in writing.
Even though the PSAT is meant to be a test for juniors, Tezak says, “We like to give it to the sophomores because it’s good for them to get the taste, and then they see their benchmark.”
Scholarship and Financial Aid Advisor Ann Phillips says, “What we have seen from statistics is if a student takes the PSAT as a sophomore, and then {he or she] takes it again as a junior, [he or she has] the chance of scoring 50 points higher as a junior because [of] a familiarity with the test.”
Familiarity helps sophomores become accustomed to other standardized tests, like the SAT, ACT and AP tests. Sophomore Miles Olson says, “I didn’t have too much of an idea what the test would be like beforehand. I’m glad I was able to take it because it helped me see what college testing is like.”
The PSAT also acts as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). The PSAT only counts for National Merit when taken as a junior; 7,600 winners are selected from the 50 thousand top scoring students are awarded $2,500 of scholarship money.
Given the low chance of getting the scholarship, many juniors elect not to pay $25 and take the test. Junior Carrissa Lam says, “I didn’t think it was worth it. I took the SAT [on Oct. 8] anyways, and I also took an SAT class, so I didn’t need the extra practice.”
Although the number of actual winners is narrowed down significantly, even being recognized by the National Merit Program opens doors to colleges and other scholarship money. Phillips says, “The colleges don’t look at your PSAT score, but if you do receive one of these honors, it’s a really big deal.”
