At Abington High School, four juniors recently qualified for the National Merit Scholarship. These four students, Madisen Caferro, Julia Do, Allison MacLeod, and Neil MacLeod, were deemed eligible from their Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) scores from earlier this school year in October 2017. They scored among the top 50,000 students from the 1.6 million students that took test.

I interviewed Julia Do about the PSAT and she was eager to respond.

Giovan Soares: How did you prepare for the test?

Julia Do: “I did some practice tests and used some of my sister’s SAT practice books to prepare. I also used the free practice tests that came with the booklet.”

GS: How did you feel while taking the test?

JD: “I felt tired and a little nervous, but overall I didn’t really care.”

GS:How did you feel after the test?

JD: “I felt relieved. It was one less thing I had to worry about. Before the test I was a bit stressed because I had more to worry about, but afterwards I was like, ‘Yeah, I have all this free time now.’”

GS: How many times did you take the PSAT?

JD: “I took the PSAT both times that it was offered and it definitely helped and got me used to being in a formal testing environment. The first time it was a bit scary, but the second time I was fine.”

GS: Do you think that the test helped you with the SAT?

JD: “No, I took the SAT a month later, and honestly no. I was preparing for both at the same time and I didn’t care about it as much. It honestly didn’t impact me that much.”

GS: Do you have any advice for students who will be taking the test?

JD: “If you have time, practice. Don’t stress out the night before. Get a lot of sleep and try to do as many questions as you can (while taking the test). But overall, the most important thing to do is practice for it.