Testing is not everyone’s favorite thing. A few weeks ago, students took the Preliminary SAT (PSAT), the American College Test (PreAct), or the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/ NMSQT). The seniors had the day off.

The PSAT is an exam that tests students on reading, writing and math skills. The importance of taking this exam is to help prepare students for when they take the SAT. It helps students see what they need to improve upon and what they did well on.

Before the test, freshman Caroline Holmes said that she “feels prepared because I have good grades.” After the test Caroline said, “I could have done better, and maybe thought through my questions more.”

Freshman Maggie Wells felt the opposite of Caroline before the test, “I do not feel prepared at all,” she said. She added that she felt nervous because she had not done anything like that before. However, the idea of having the rest of the day off after the test made her very excited.
One thing that John Carroll does on testing day is saying that students get to leave after testing is over.

Junior Addie Steffes said, “I want to take a nap after my stressful day of testing.”

Sophomore Margaret Patterson commented, “I’m very excited about my half day because I have stuff to do, like eating, sleeping, working, and volleyball.”

Another cool thing John Carroll does is that they give their seniors the day off.

Senior Sydney Harrison spent her day off at a doctor’s appointment and at her last tennis match of the season.

Senior Andrew Brown, although given the day off, still had to come in to represent John Carroll in his cross country meet.

Andrew and Sydney also offered some advice for test takers next year.

Sydney said, “Make sure you answer every question.”

Andrew also offered this helpful advice, “Don’t worry too much, and don’t fail.”

After the test, the same people were asked how their test went.

“I think I did pretty well, except I feel like I bombed the math section,” said Addie.

Addie also wishes she got more sleep the night before as she felt tired during her test.

Margaret said, “I did somewhat okay. The test was also very long and tiring.” Margaret wishes she was more confident when taking her test but would change nothing else about her test-taking experience this year.

Maggie said, “I have mixed feelings on the test. I think I did well on the English section, but I was really confused on the math section.” After going into the test feeling very unprepared, she feels like she did okay on the test.

In the end, some say not to stress too much about PSATs because it is a practice test.
Students should really examine the feedback they receive in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses so they can work to improve.