I’ve been taking the PSAT since I was in 6th grade with the same no. 2 pencils and strangely soft paper. I’ve mastered exactly how to hold my papers on the cramped desks they give us in the most efficient way, the exact way I mark questions while in a way that allows me to work through them the fastest, and exactly what to expect. I’ve been training myself for years to prepare for what has been made to seem like the most important academic performance in my life so far.
But now, the PSAT and SAT are changing. They’re becoming digital, they’re completely changing the format and it’s becoming adaptive. The PSAT I am about to take will not be the same PSAT I’ve prepared for for the past five years. Everything I’ve prepared for is void.

I know that change is always difficult, and I’m sure in a few years that we’ll be praising CollegeBoard for switching over to a digital test. It was bound to happen with all of the technological advances made, especially in a post-COVID world.
But adjustment to change takes time, and for the class of 2025, there’s not much more time left to get adjusted to this change. We have one chance to practice with the October PSAT before the real deal, something that you’re supposed to have practice with for years beforehand. That’s what the PSATs are for, to build those years of practice and familiarity so you know exactly how the SAT is going to go, what kinds of questions will be asked, what the scoring will look like, etc.. Many students even go so far as to seek outside SAT preparation, some families even hiring private tutors in order to prepare them properly.

As a part of the class of 2025, I just wish we were given that time. CollegeBoard announced that their tests are going fully digital in early 2022—so why have we continued to practice with an outdated format? The class of 2026 took the PSAT with the digital format in fall of 2022- so why were we not allowed to do the same? Why has our class been neglected the opportunity to practice with the correct format when we’re being forced to be its guinea pigs? The PSATs have allowed me to grow familiar with what I can expect going into the test, what kinds of questions they’ll be asking me and what I can expect out of myself. Going into this final PSAT, I have no idea what to expect, and I’ll have to figure out what we’re usually given years to understand in months.

So yes, change is difficult, and we all come around to it eventually. But for something made to seem so important to our generation, the class of 2025 doesn’t have the time to wait around and get used to it. But what I hope we’ll start to see is that these number scores won’t seem so important. That your performance on one day won’t be representative of your value as a whole. That we won’t have to care so much about a change like this one.
I hope that eventually, I won’t have to bank my future on a number.