Every year, close to 4 million US high school students, including Ramaz 11th graders, take part in the PSAT, a standardized test administered by the College Board and cosponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. This year, the college office notified all junior students via email that each student is obligated to take part in the PSAT on October 10th. The email explained that the guidance office wants students “to be prepared for this test, and that the College Board shipment of PSAT prep booklets has been delayed, so we are attaching a link to a pdf of the booklet.” One week later, the printed booklet was distributed with a recommendation that “families read these materials and that students sit down and take the practice test under timed conditions.”  These few emails and a list of supplies needed (number 2 pencils and a calculator), were essentially the preparation and encouragement that the school provided.

Ramaz students are typically self-motivated, which proved to be a positive for this 2 hours and 45-minute test sandwiched in between tefilah, a brief college meeting, lunch and regular classes for periods 9-11. While many students did not take the entire practice PSAT from the booklet prior to October 10th, as suggested by the college office, some did flip through it and glance at the questions. In addition, many of the juniors have already started studying and having tutorial sessions for the standardized tests that really “count.” Eddy Shasha ’20 said “I started formal tutoring for the SATs at the end of my sophomore year and am already signed up to take the SAT this fall, so the PSAT was not a big deal.” Another junior, Lucy Doft ’20, was concerned about the request to spend extra time studying for the PSAT, ostensibly a practice test, because “I am taking the ACT and not the SAT, so the PSAT doesn’t really help me with preparing for the ACT.”  In years past, the college office provided Ramaz students with the PLAN test, which simulated the ACT, although this test has not been offered in Ramaz in at least the past 3 years. Instead, the college advisers do have a practice ACT available in the college office “to get a feel for the style and content of that exam.” Some schools also offer the PSAT 10 to be taken in tenth grade as practice for the official PSAT. Mr. Blumenthal says that Ramaz does not offer the PSAT 10 because “I don’t think there is enough value in giving the PSAT to 10th graders that we should start doing so. Eligibility to be a candidate in the National Merit Scholarship program is not enough value. And becoming familiar with the SAT format (another main benefit to taking the PSAT) does not outweigh giving up a day of class early in sophomore year and pushing the college-admissions focus that early.” Julia Levi, a 2018 graduate, summed up her PSAT experience by stating, “Personally I found it helpful because it acted sort of as a ‘wake up call’ for me to start studying for the SATs and showed me what it would be like taking the SATs in the Ramaz classroom environment, which feels much more real than taking a practice test alone or at a test center.”

The PSAT is also the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship Program, which “is an academic competition for recognition and college scholarships.” Of the millions of students taking the test, only 50,000 of the highest scoring students receive recognition. In 2017, Ramaz had one Finalist and five Letters of Commendation (out of 88 graduates) and 2018 had two finalists, four semi finalists and 12 Letters of Commendation (out of 99 graduates).  Recognition on this test did not correlate with Ramaz students receiving early or regular admission to their top choice school. In addition, many schools are de-emphasizing test scores for applicants, and, according to a 2014 issue of Nautilus (an online and print science magazine), schools are “turning to research showing that a student’s potential relies on more than cognition.  Traits such as optimism, curiosity, resilience and ‘grit’ may actually play a stronger role in determining a student’s long-term success.”

While it is reassuring to know that colleges are starting to realize that the entire upper school experience is just as, if not more, important than the ability to take tests, and that students’ educational future should not solely rely on the SAT or ACT, standardized tests are still here to stay as part of the high school experience. The best example of how the PSAT has unified the class of 2020 is the abundance of PSAT memes that can be found on social media. Students share inside jokes about the experience and poke fun at memorable questions as a funny way of connecting with other students across America. Yola A. ’22 thought that these memes “shined light on a long and stressful test because they were hilarious and very relatable.”