By contributing writers Bobbi Sakellariou (‘27) and Ryan Bennett (‘28)

Every year, juniors from across the world take the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) to see if they qualify for a scholarship. Out of the 1.5 million students that take the test, there is less than a 1% chance that they will qualify for a National Merit Scholarship. In October 2023, Peter Drew took his PSAT at J-D High School, and he got a perfect score of 1520/1520, becoming a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship.

The PSAT is an optional test that challenges your reading, writing, and math skills. Most people take it in their junior year. If a participant does really well on the test, they can qualify for a National Merit Scholarship. The National Merit Scholarship is an award that participants can receive for doing well on the PSAT. They get some money for college, and it makes college resumes look better.

To become a finalist, participants need to do a few additional things such as submitting their previous SAT scores, having a good academic record, and being recommended by a high school official. Peter has done this and will find out this February whether or not he will become a finalist.

Drew did not expect to do this good on the test, and he wasn’t nervous. He thought of this as a practice test for the SAT. He didn’t take any of the previous PSAT tests, the PSAT 8/9, for grades 8 and 9, or the PSAT 10 for sophomores. Peter recommends students try the PSAT if they think they are good enough to score high. He started studying 15 minutes a day, a month before the test. “I used the Khan Academy SAT prep almost exclusively,” he said.

The reward for obtaining a National Merit Scholarship is $2,500 towards college education. “I am planning on going to Dartmouth [college],” Peter said. “It’s really just useful because the colleges like seeing that you got National Merit semifinalist or finalist.” After taking the test, he gained confidence leading up to the ACT and SAT, but he does not expect this scholarship to have a lot of impact towards his dream college. “The scholarship is really not that much money, I think about half of the finalists get the $5,000.” Peter said, “Compared to the amount the colleges cost, it’s not that much.” The tuition fee for Dartmouth College is roughly $66,000. He plans on majoring in Quantitative Social Sciences.

Good luck Peter on qualifying for as a National Merit Finalist!