Eagle Era

An overview of the PSAT and its impact on students

By Kaitlyn Liu

The sound of frantic juniors chattering with friends about nerves and assigned testing locations filled the hallways at 8:15 AM on Monday, October 6—a seemingly normal day for all other grades. That day was none other than the annual, daunting 2-hour and 14-minute PSAT.

The PSAT, or the preliminary SAT, is a standardized test that serves as preparation for the actual SAT. It allows students from all high schools the chance to qualify for merit-based scholarships. Students in California are required to be in the top percentile of all test takers in the state to qualify as semifinalists for the prestigious National Merit Scholarship. Last year, 25 students at AHS were National Merit Scholars, granting them an edge while applying to highly selective colleges and scholarships, among other advantages.

This year is no different. Some students, faced with pressure from older siblings’ successes, went into the exam striving to be a part of the top percentile to appease their parents. After hearing about the exam 3 weeks prior from parents and the school newsletter, Isha Adiga (11), whose sister had qualified for the scholarship years prior, stated, “I remember being stressed about it in the beginning since my parents put so much emphasis on it, but I put it off for a little bit. I did both practice tests on Bluebook, the student question bank on College Board, and Khan Academy.” 

Arpita Joshi (11), who was faced with the increasing demands from her AP classes, stated, “When going into the exam, I thought I was going to fail because I did not prepare beforehand. At that point, all I wanted was for the test to be over because I had an AP Bio test the next day.” 

Without parental pressures or specific expectations to reach, Aarav Mehta (11) said, “Going into the exam, I had a calm and composed mind, accepting whatever my score would be, as my parents and I didn’t really care about the score or the test overall.”

As the test occurred over the course of 3 classes, meaning 3 passing periods, students clamored in the busy hallways and bells rang through classrooms. Adiga stated, “The dismissal bell was super loud and kind of disrupting during my testing time. The phone also rang a few times, which distracted me, but other than that, the testing zone was quiet.”  

Isha Adiga (11) was studying for her upcoming exams (Photo Credit: Kaitlyn Liu (11)).

Due to her extensive preparation with practice tests, Adiga reflected, “The PSAT was similar to the practice test and was pretty realistic. I was also gaslit into thinking the PSAT would be way easier by my sister, but it ended up being slightly harder than she said.”

Mehta, who took a practice test the night before and had taken the October SAT, said, “The tests were fairly similar to the SAT and practice tests as I saw some repeat questions in the practice tests on the PSAT, just with different words or numbers.”

Brianna Lee (12), one of the National Merit Semifinalists, stated, “Honestly, I didn’t have any expectations going into it because last year it was required for everyone, so I didn’t feel confident or not confident.”

The acquisition of the National Merit Award is something many juniors strive for in their first semester, and many AHS students unite in their struggles to study. Lee added, “If I even qualify, which I think comes out sometime in March or May, I’ll get a $2500 scholarship if I apply. I could use that for textbooks or any other materials that I would need next year because I’m going to college.”