With the new fall season upon us, there are new sessions this year for SATs and ACTs. While times like these are stressful, especially with the Juniors having only one more year in high school before college, these tests lead to new opportunities that can help the high schoolers here at Central on their paths into college.

​The pSAT is a wonderful opportunity for Juniors to practice an SAT exam in their schools. Because it’s a practice exam, there is less reason for students to beat themselves up if they perform poorly on the pSAT, and there will be more to learn and to prepare for when it comes to the real SAT or ACT. Junior Nethanel Keener stated, “I signed up because there was no negative outcomes, it is very good for prepping for the ACT/SAT, as well as the potential to earn the National Merit Scholarship.”

The National Merit Scholarship gives students recognition for university scholarships. There are 7,580 scholarships that are going to be offered in 2026, giving plenty of students the opportunity to qualify. Like Nethanel said, there is nothing to lose by taking the pSAT. A lot of students take advantage of this opportunity to receive scholarships and practice before the real ACTs/SATs. When Nethanel Keener was asked about how he felt after he took the pSAT, he said, “I did a lot of preparing but it was not difficult.” This shows students who prepared for the pSAT may have performed better with more studying before the big test.

​Overall, the pSAT is an amazing opportunity to receive recognition from universities and to gain experience when taking difficult exams for students. Many students see the advantage of taking this test and decided to sign up for the pSAT earlier this school year. There is nothing to lose and only knowledge and opportunities to gain, as many Juniors realized this year when they took it.