The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) is taken by 3.5 million high school students in the United States.  The PSAT for most people is more like a rehearsal for the real test, the SAT.

Many students feel like the PSAT has been a waste of time and money, costing twenty-five dollars and lasting 4 hours long, a majority of students just give up halfway through the test.  This leads to low scores that don’t show a student’s true potential.

The real meaning behind the taking the PSAT is to find one’s necessary skills on the test.  It can show students what they need to work on the most and the least.  As well as helping students prepare and become familiar with the real SAT.  For most people the PSAT is a joke, and it’s an easy way to get out of 1st and 3rd period classes, but students should take it more seriously because it can actually count towards National Merit Scholarships and programs, and certain colleges can actually see a student’s PSAT scores.

With the real SAT changing in March 2016, the PSAT covers the new 2016 test, which also no longer has an essay portion and has eliminated geometry off of the math section.  This is more of a reason to take the practice test and gage where one is on the 1600 point scale.  By taking this test it can help one determine how much they should study for the real exam, if one student scores a 900 they could use more improvement than a student scoring a 1550. The PSAT is pretty much a diagnostic test.

College admissions seem to get harder year after year, so getting a head start on one of the biggest tests in high school could really help boost your score and give you a higher chance into the college of your dreams.