An ounce of normalcy in the form of a standardized test: CCHS administers the in-person PSAT/NMSQT

BY CHRIS GOMES

CCHS administered the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test and National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) on October 29 to all juniors who had previously signed up to take it. The test was optional, required a fee of $18.00 for testing and was offered to a maximum of 200 students due to social distancing concerns.

The PSAT is the preliminary test for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and although results are not shared to colleges for admissions purposes, it is still an important exam for gaining hands-on practice with the SAT structure and curriculum. 

The NMSQT part of the title arises from the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test portion of the PSAT, which offers scholarships to those who meet the criteria and perform exceedingly well on the test. The scholarships are offered to 3% of the nearly 1.5 million juniors who take the test across the United States, so it is fairly selective.

In normal circumstances, the PSAT would be just another test for all CCHS students, as it is usually offered from freshman, sophomore and junior year. However, because of the pandemic and the many circumstances and events that it has delayed, the PSAT was a unique ounce of normalcy in a time scattered by chaos.

The test was offered in more controlled circumstances and followed the style of the “in-person” campus, in order to enforce social distancing precautions.

Despite this, the common PSAT environment students are familiar with had to change in some ways as well. The test was offered in more controlled circumstances and followed the style of the “in-person” campus, in order to enforce social distancing precautions.

Students were required to bring pencils, calculators and their student ID, which are the standard necessities for the PSAT. However, as a result of the pandemic, CCHS students were also required to wear a mask at all times in order to negate the spread of COVID. Desks were set six feet apart, and for many students who were already used to eLearning, it was a different educational experience than what they are normally accustomed to.

“It was handled relatively the same compared to every other year, they just measured our temperatures when we came to school and the desks were farther apart,” junior Emily Ching said. “But I didn’t feel like any serious safety precautions were taken. They took the precautions they had to take, but someone could very much still get infected.” 

Questions of whether adequate precautions for COVID-19 when administering the PSAT concerns still persist.

“They took the precautions they had to take, but someone could very much still get infected.”

Junior Emily Ching

The actual testing process started with the beginning of the school day, when students who were participating in the PSAT had to first enter the premises from the mini gym near the senior parking lot and proceed to the third floor of the 3400 building, following temperature checks and appropriate safety measures. The school saw an influx of students that normally participate in eLearning arriving on campus. 

The administration of the test was also similar, but different to the experience that most CCHS students often undergo.

“I think it went better than last year in my experience, but there were still a lot of problems,” junior Joshua Jontiff said. “[The problems were with] the distribution and collection of materials and the current situation of the pandemic.”

Although being a normal occurrence for many students, the administration of the PSAT was altered. The act of taking the PSAT itself while a pandemic is occurring is something that students have arguably become desensitized to. The experience was appalling to many who were used to quarantining in their homes for the majority of this year and felt familiar, yet quite different from the normal October PSAT. 

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia