The LHS Cafeteria was filled to the brim this week, as Sophomores and Juniors were able to take the PSATs for free at LHS during a school day.
We decided to have a conversation with the Head of Guidance, Megan DeInnocentis, about the benefits of taking the PSATs.
What is the main purpose of this test and how will the results be used?
“The PSAT, that stands for the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test and so the name highlights its 2 main purposes. It’s preliminary, so it’s practice for the PSATs,” she said. “Then its other purpose is students who take it who are juniors could qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.”
DeInnocentis explained that as it is a practice for the SAT “by taking the PSATs, it gives them an idea of the length of the test, the types of questions that are going to be asked on the test,” she explained. “[It’s]just another opportunity to use the Chromebook and take a standardized test in that format.”
How long does the test take and how many times does a student get to take the test?
“Most students probably just take it once,” DeInnocentis said. “They can take it up to two times. It’s offered in the fall of their sophomore and junior year, so sophomores and juniors can take it at the same time.”
While it is only practice, a student could if they choose, take it both sophomore and junior year.
“It’s okay if they just take it once in either of those two times, or if they don’t take it at all — that’s fine too,” she said. “It’s just a practice opportunity. If they miss it, it doesn’t hurt them in any way. It just can be like another helpful thing for them.”
What skills will that test cover and are there any student guidelines?
“There’s two main sections — there’s a Reading and Writing section, and then a Math section,” said DeInnocentis. “For the test, each of those has two sections — two sections in English and two in Math. The overall test is a little over two hours, so each of the sections is about half an hour long, with a break in between.”
The scores can also help guide students and Guidance in what courses they may be successful in in the future.
“The College Board site also analyzes them to predict how students could be successful in other classes in the future…another data point we get from the PSATs is that it looks at the questions, and for students who scored well on certain questions, it will tell us which AP courses they might be successful in.”
Leominster High offers countless AP courses in a variety of subjects — English, Math, Science, and Social Studies.
“The purpose of an AP class is that it’s one of the most advanced, challenging classes students can take in high school,” DeInnocentis said. “If a student scores high on that AP test, they could earn college credit for that class and not have to take it in college.”
The College Board can also take the PSAT results and “even though it’s just on English and Math, [it can] and make recommendations for Science and Social Studies based on how students did. That’s a piece of data we can give to the kids during course selection time.
What do you say to students who don’t like to take these tests and prefer to skip it?
“That’s fine. I mean, the PSATs in general are just one way of showing colleges that test taking is a strength of a student,” DeInnocentis said. “There’s been a large move from colleges to look at candidates more holistically. They want to look at their overall transcript, essay, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, interviews, and so on.”
When COVID happened, all of the test sites shut down, so colleges had to become SAT optional,” she continued. “After that, most colleges remained SAT optional. So, if a student truly isn’t a good test taker, they can apply as a test-optional student, but there might be other requirements.”
There is one other benefit to taking the tests.
“Something else to be aware of is that sometimes colleges associate merit scholarship money with certain academic traits, and sometimes that includes SAT scores. So students just have to be aware of what each college is asking for.”
To get your results, students have to create an account on the College Board site.
“Students can then see their scores in a few weeks and then use that to determine their strengths and weaknesses to help them better prepare themselves to take the SATs.”
