With only five minutes left on the recent PSAT, students began to worry and rushed to fill in a sequence of bubbles; this type of stress is familiar to students taking the PSAT. Every Hackley sophomore or junior knew this feeling on October 14, when they took the new format of the test. The sophomores had nothing to compare it to, as this was their first time taking the test, but the juniors had many opinions to share.

As seen in the recent Dial poll, about 70% of juniors surveyed found the old PSAT to be more difficult than the new one.

According to Junior Jack Weyndling, “This year, it was a lot more straightforward.” Junior Sam Rinzler said that it was a “much more fair test” and that it was “a lot more similar to the ACT.” That seemed to be a common theme among juniors. Juniors Riya Mital and Teddy van Eck both agreed that the new PSAT definitely resembled the ACT.

The big question was, what’s different about the new PSAT and SAT? According to the College Board, the new SAT has three major differences: “there is an all new essay and it’s optional, there is no penalty for guessing, and there is no vocab that you’ll never use again” (SAT). Time Magazine outlines the seven major differences in the new SAT here.

Preparation from Hackley’s PSAT class offered the necessary tips and tricks to use while taking this new test. Junior Ivie Uzamere said that she “felt very prepared, especially with the classes offered at Hackley.” The teacher of the class, Thomas Caserta, used the Kaplan PSAT 2015 book for the students to practice and prepare. Despite the changes, Mr. Caserta’s students feel that his course still prepared them properly.

Peter Latson, Co-Director of College Counseling, discussed how this would affect Hackley students. He said, “When we’re able to compare results between the new and the old PSAT for an entire class, we’ll have a better sense of whether this test will be good, bad, or about the same for Hackley students… For the sophomores, the choices will be clearer, so this really only affects the Class of 2017.” When talking about his experience with past changes on the PSAT in the 1990s and 2000s, Mr. Latson said they “didn’t seem to have much effect on the independent school students I was counseling at either time.” Mr. Latson has had three decades in teaching, college admission, and college counseling, and he said, “my experience has been that concerns about such changes tend to be considerably greater than the actual effects.”