With the fall holidays finally over, CESJDS students are just starting to get back into the usual routine. However, for sophomores and juniors, a monkey wrench was thrown into this acclimatization: Wednesday’s PSAT.

Sophomores and juniors across the country take the PSATs, which are created by the College Board. The test serves both as practice for the SAT and as a qualifier for different scholarships, including the National Merit Scholarship.

The test had four parts: reading comprehension, writing mechanics and grammar, math without a calculator and math with a calculator.

The College Board changed the SAT for this school year and with it, changed its companion test – the PSAT.

According to the College Board’s website, the new PSAT is longer, there is more emphasis on words’ meanings in context rather than isolated vocabulary, and there is no penalty for guessing, all in contrast to the old PSAT.

“The new reading test uses more evidence based reading and reading with understanding and inference,” Director of College Guidance Sue Rexford said, explaining that the reading questions evaluate comprehension rather than specific details. “The writing and language section of the reading measures vocabulary in context as well as understanding basic language skills.”

The math section also underwent changes, Rexford explained. It now has a section to be taken without a calculator, “to better understand a student’s thought process in problem-solving.”

Junior Jared Horwitz took the old SAT before Wednesday’s PSAT, and noticed the difference between the two tests.

“I think that the SAT had more difficult writing questions, and the type of reading questions were different,” Horwitz said. “Obviously, there were no charts on the SAT, which there were on the PSAT, and in addition I thought that the PSAT reading questions were a little more straightforward.”

For sophomores, the PSAT has no bearing on the college process and instead serves as a preview for the testing process. However, juniors who score very highly on the test can qualify for National Merit Scholarships.

“I remember that I took the tenth-grade PSAT with zero preparation because I just wanted to know how well I could do,” Horwitz said. “By the time the test came around this year I had already prepped a lot. I would say that that was the biggest difference, the difference in preparation.”

Rexford recommends that sophomores do not put too much effort into studying for the test, but sees importance in tenth graders taking the test itself.

“Tenth-graders should take this test seriously but also for what it is – a practice in becoming familiar with the test,” Rexford said. “It is a good way to receive a diagnostic of any skill deficits they can work on before junior year. Standardized tests are part of the college process, but for tenth-graders this is more about identifying skills that need refining.”

According to Rexford, students will know their scores sometime this winter. Usually the College Board sends the scores out in early to mid-December, but with the new test, the results may not be announced until January. Accordingly, JDS has scheduled a PSAT return program for Jan. 7 where the college guidance faculty will explain what scores mean and how students can proceed.