by Cameron Tejeda | staff writer
Before, the PSAT was exclusive for the tenth and eleventh graders, but the district has now decided that freshman will take it as well. This should help freshmen get more practice and be ready for the SAT.
“Our district has decided that they want all ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders to take the PSAT this year. So that is something new for ninth graders to be taking the PSAT. College Board has designed a special PSAT for both eighth and ninth grade,” head counselor Courtney Tarbox said.
And since the PSAT is typically taken by students as a way to prepare for future college-entrance exams, freshmen shouldn’t have too much to worry about.
“It’s best for ninth graders to just show up and take it because this is early on before they’ll be taking it for any type of scholarship purposes or just preparing for those college admission exams,” Tarbox said.
However, students still might have a chance to study for the PSAT if they would like.
“In the past we have received PSAT prep books just prior to the test, and if we receive those again we’ll be passing those out through their English classes,” Tarbox said.
When scores become available, students will have the ability to view them online.
“Students will get a score report that will have a special code where they can go online to collegeboard.org, and they’ll also get a score report that will show students where their strengths; maybe their weaknesses or struggles were. Students can look up which questions they got incorrect and what they missed there,” Tarbox said.
However, this year, there is also an additional tool designed specifically for the freshmen class.
“A new feature for that PSAT Nine is that students may also get AP Potential on whether College Board feels that their results indicate they could be successful in AP classes,” Tarbox said.
The test date is already set for next month and students will have an adjusted bell schedule.
“October 14th is the PSAT test date. So it’ll be here at Johnson, and it’s automatically set up, and there will be a special schedule that day to allow the ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders to take the PSAT. And it will be in the morning,” Tarbox said.
The district seems to have good intentions and a clear goal for making this change, according to Tarbox.
“It’s to help students prepare for those college entrance exams and give students good information to know if they may be ready for AP courses down the road,” Tarbox said.
