The College Board will administer the updated PSAT to PHS juniors and sophomores on Oct. 28. In a change from recent years, the test date was shifted to Wednesday during school hours from Saturday, according to the College Board’s website.
The College Board’s rationale for this shift was to better accommodate students’ extracurricular activities: The Wednesday test date better avoids conflict with students’ weekend activities and religious holidays, according to their website.
PHS does not require sophomores or juniors to take the test; however, those who do not wish to take the test should deliver a letter with their intention to the administration before the test date, assistant principal Eric Mapes said.
Another part of the College Board’s rationale is that over the past four years, there has been an increase in the number of schools requesting to administer the PSAT/NMSQT on a second Wednesday because of scheduling conflicts, according to their website.
The administration is unsure of how the timing of the test — 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m — will affect classes. They are trying to figure out how to accommodate those taking the test, as well as freshmen and seniors, who do not take the PSAT. The current A-day schedule plan for that day will remain, Mapes said.
The administration also does not know who will be proctoring the tests and where the tests will be held.
“We’re still working out how the test is going to be administered,” counselor Ashley English said.
Mapes hopes that all sophomores and juniors will take the test, since it is a valuable benchmark of one’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to the actual SAT, which will help students feel prepared for the test, he said.
“Students will probably feel like they did better taking it during the school day, because [their] focus is on school,” he said.
English, on the other hand, said that she thinks the Saturday testing day is more appropriate, in that it better simulates the conditions of the real SAT, which happens on Saturdays.
Student opinions on the shift vary: in particular, junior Veronica Wong worried about missing classes to take the test.
“[The weekday testing] may be more convenient for some people” junior Veronica Wong said. “But it takes away from my classes.”
Sophomore Paige Avagliano shared a similar perspective, citing homework and sports as distractions from the PSAT.
“It’ll definitely cut into my day,” Avagliano said.
The College Board offers schools a choice between two dates, two weeks apart. PHS administration opted for Oct. 28, the later date, for ease of renting the necessary equipment. While there have been Wednesday testing dates in previous years, they were reserved for makeup tests.
The administration is asking for a $25 donation to cover the cost of the test, as well as the cost of renting equipment to administer the test.
After the test, Mapes will be holding student forums to gauge the reaction to the adjusted test day.
“I would like to talk to juniors who took the PSAT on a Saturday [during their sophomore year] and then took it during a regular school day,” he said.
