Photo courtesy of ontocollege.com
The PSAT: The Exam’s Role in College Counseling at Bryn Mawr
By: Elshaday F. ‘27
This past October, the Bryn Mawr School’s junior class took the PSAT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT), a required examination all students will encounter during their time at the Upper School. The PSAT — also known as the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test — is a standardized test that serves as a predictor of performance on the SAT and a qualification exam for the National Merit Scholarship and many other scholarship programs. The PSAT 10 & PSAT NMSQT were taken by approximately 3.65 million students in the 2023-2024 school year. Each year at Bryn Mawr, the PSAT 10 & PSAT NMSQT are taken by all members of the sophomore and junior class, and are key points of their college counseling journey as Bryn Mawr students.
For 11th graders at Bryn Mawr, the PSAT created an anxious buzz amongst their class. Months of preparation starting from 10th grade led up to the test they sat down for on the morning of Monday, October 7th. The anticipation of the test had a notable effect on the climate of 11th grade. To an extent, this atmospheric change for juniors can be attributed to test taking anxiety. Approximately 25% to 40% of students in the US struggle with test taking anxiety. This anxiety is to be anticipated in a highly-competitive environment like Bryn Mawr. It is no surprise that the test is received in that manner, as it is considered to be a turning point in the college counseling experience at Bryn Mawr that kicks off the academically strenuous junior year.
Not only is the PSAT a turning point in the college counseling journey at Bryn Mawr for 11th graders, but it is also a cornerstone in this journey for the 10th grade class. In January of every Upper School student’s sophomore year, they enter Bryn Mawr’s comprehensive college counseling program, and embarking on this journey is marked by beginning 2 months of test preparation for the PSAT 10. It is easy to dismiss the PSAT 10 as an insubstantial counterpart of the PSAT NMSQT — as it doesn’t contribute virtually as much to qualifying for scholarships — but Bryn Mawr’s college counseling program has been intentional with its choice to require the test for sophomores. Bryn Mawr College Counseling Assistant Jiho Kim says, “We like to call the PSAT 10 … preliminary or practice for the SAT because it's very similar. … Tenth grade PSAT is different from the PSAT NMSQT … because this is sort of like ‘Lets see how we do, are we on track?’. … And if you need additional help, maybe it's flagged so you know ‘Oh, I need to work more on this!’ in reading & writing, or in math.” This means that for Bryn Mawr sophomores, the PSAT 10 is an opportunity to practice for both the PSAT NMSQT and SAT, familiarize themselves with the questions on these tests, and assess their weaker subjects to adjust their study plans accordingly.
As Bryn Mawr students, it is important to consider the conscientious reasons behind all of the activities that are required of students. The PSAT exams are not excluded from these purposefully mandatory activities. There is no harm in taking a moment to reflect on how taking the PSAT 10 and PSAT NMSQT exams affect the experiences of students at Bryn Mawr — on both an individual and collective level.