Preliminary tests are taken for practice.

As of Wednesday October 19, 2016, sophomores and juniors at Bullitt East were able to participate in the PSAT exam. “PSAT” is an acronym standing for the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. The exam is majorly a practice test for those who plan to participate in taking the SAT at a further date.

Many sophomores and juniors choose to take part in the PSAT for the reason that, it is one thing used to select students for National Merit Scholarships, of which are awarded to students during the spring term of senior year.

Further benefits of participating in the test are that one can have their scores reported to colleges that are interested in students who are scoring in that range. Making a good score on the PSAT is very similar to making a good score on the ACT or SAT, as colleges always like to see high scores on tests.

Students only have two total chances in participating in the PSAT during their high school career. As the test is only given one time a year in the month of October. This making the test a very important yet very limited opportunity that students should most definitely take advantage of.

Like many other optional tests, this one has an entry fee, but compared to others it is relatively cheap. This year at Bullitt East it cost $16 to participate in the exam. Another aspect of this test that differs from other official exams is that the PSAT is relatively short in time length. The exam is a 2 hour test consisting of 30 minute sections.

Sophomore Jake Keys feels as though he performed exceptionally well on the test as he states,  “I know I got a 1520, no more and no less, because that’s the max score and I got a logical answer for each question. I think I’ll take the real SAT now and see how I do, after all I’ll need at least a 1500 to go to school where I want to (Ivy League or Duke).”

For different people, different parts of the test were hard and other parts were easy, but the biggest issue seemed to be the amount of time that was given. Sophomore Madisson Kingsley said, “The hardest part was math, and trying to get it done in time.”

Whereas others had different opinions on the test. Keys thought “The PSAT was very easy for him, however…the hardest part was the language-section-2 because of the amount of time given.”

Preparation for the PSAT is extremely vital if one hopes to make a good score, just as it is vital to be prepared for the SAT. If you are a freshman looking to take the PSAT next year, or a sophomore wanting to take it again for junior year, one skill that would be extremely helpful to work on is time management.