On Oct. 17, 2012, 96 DHS students met in the green gym during first through third hours for the Preliminary SAT, commonly called the PSAT. The PSAT is a practice test designed to test a student’s strengths and weaknesses and better prepare them for the SAT.
The vast majority of test-takers were juniors but there were around six to eight sophomores present.
There were several reasons for taking the test, especially for students who are looking for out-of-state colleges that mainly recognize the SAT, rather than the ACT, which is recognized by more Michigan colleges.
“MIT, my preferred school, requires the SAT so I wanted to be sure I knew how to study for [the SAT],” junior Ryan Qamar said.
The PSAT is also a measure for the National Merit Semi-Finals Qualifying Test. Only an elite group of students qualify, since in order to do so a student has to score in the within around the 99th percentile on the test.
Qualifiers are picked sometime in 2013 and with it comes a significant amount of prestige and possible scholarships.
Many other students took the test in order to keep their options open and have more practice in the standardized testing format.
“It’s mostly for a practice of standardized testing,” DHS counselor Douglas Bradford said.