The PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test) an exam created to prepare students for the SAT and determines whether one is eligible to earn a National Merit Scholarship, is Wednesday during 1st, 2nd, and Advisory periods for sophomores and juniors, with freshmen and seniors arriving at 12:30 p.m.  

“I’m a little nervous,” junior Sreyansh Tiwari said. “As anyone taking the test tomorrow would be. I spent about a month solely practicing for the PSAT and I’m just going through practice questions and the official book. I think if anything I’m better prepared this year. Last year, my score was pretty rough because mainly I didn’t know what to expect.”

Juniors have the opportunity to be accepted for the NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test), with the top 1 percent of scorers receiving a scholarship of $2,500.

“I don’t think I’m going to be eligible for the scholarship but I am trying to get a good score,” junior Emma Gow said. “There are so many people that have been preparing and putting a lot of their time into doing well on the PSAT, there isn’t that big of an opening for many students to be accepted.”

But for senior Eric Lynn, a NMSQT semi-finalist, preparation wasn’t a key component of his test taking repertoire.

“I didn’t practice at all,” Lynn said. “I guess you could call the PSAT I took in tenth grade as preparation because it did help give me a perspective on how the exam is structured, what to look out for, and it helped me define my strengths and weaknesses based on the scores I got, but that’s about it.”

Freshmen and seniors on the other hand, get to take a load off due to late arrival.

“Surprisingly, it does give us more time to study and relax,” freshman Madhalasa Iyer said. “There’s always stress and other components associated with school so this gives us the opportunity to make up for lost sleep and become a little more organized.”