Besides the scheduling disaster that left most students either scrambling to finish the last few math problems or sprinting to the bathrooms because, apparently, kids don’t need a break during a four-hour test, the content of the PSAT itself and the aftermath are an event in themselves. Despite being a supposed practice for the real SAT, the PSAT this year definitely had some major changes from the typical 10 section layout that most upperclassmen are familiar with.
First of all, after 16 weeks of SAT prep and practice tests leading up to the October SAT earlier this month, I was pretty stunned by the new layout due to Common Core, and not in a good way. Let’s be honest: is there anyone who actually LIKES Common Core?
The idea behind it is all right, but in practice, it’s just a total disaster. Luckily, I’m a junior this year so I’ve flown under the Common Core radar up until now, avoiding the new ‘Integrated Math’ that my siblings now have to endure (There’s a new method for adding numbers together? What?). My year is the last year that will be able to take the old SAT.
But last Wednesday, I was faced with the new Common Core PSAT standards. While the reading section was easier for me, I was actually kind of sad that they removed those ‘spot the error’ questions in the writing section. Is it just me, or were those kind of fun?
Also, and this might just be me again, I prefer the fast pace of the old SAT. I’d much rather do 10 sections in a row with only 25 minutes for each than four that each take up to an hour. After the first 35 minutes of the 60-minute reading section, I was ready to close my test booklet and just bubble in patterns on my answer sheet.
It seems like whoever wrote the test was thinking, “How can I make this extremely simple problem sound as complicated as possible?” I don’t care what anyone says; those math problems definitely required reading skills.
I feel bad for anyone who sucks at English but is great in math. On the old SAT, if you’re better at technical things like grammar and solving equations but not so great at interpreting ‘deeper meanings,’ you can still get a good score; on this new SAT, you’re screwed. I’m in AP Calculus, so I should’ve flown through those math sections. Instead, I spent half the time just trying to figure out what the problem was asking and then messing up simple equations because I had wasted all my time reading the damn question.
But hey, there are some good aspects of the PSAT. Ok, maybe not some, as in plural, but there is definitely one. I don’t know if this has been going on for several years or if it just started last year, but an actual fandom has been created for the PSAT. Yes, you read that right. A fandom has been made for the PSAT, like how there is one for books like Harry Potter and TV shows like Doctor Who.
It’s centered on social media, mainly on Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter, and has gained a lot of popularity. A quick search of the hashtag PSAT on Instagram will yield thousands of memes referencing scenarios in questions and passages that were on the PSAT. I would mention some, but apparently I signed an agreement saying I wouldn’t talk about content on the PSAT (looks like about half the teens in America are going to jail for posting a meme about Thad and his cookies).
I think that the reason the PSAT fandom has caused such uproar is because it appeals to our senses of inclusion. Through references to situations we all had to read and solve, we teens on social media feel somewhat connected and ‘in the loop.’ It’s like hearing an inside joke and being able to genuinely laugh about it because you know what its referring to, rather than having to do that awkward chuckle as you nervously shift your eyes from side to side (not that I speak from experience or anything).
In any case, despite the pretty awesome memes that I’ve seen, the PSAT itself let me down. I wasn’t expecting much from the Common Core standards, but what I actually had to experience with the PSAT definitely didn’t sit right with me. I never thought I’d actually say this, but after witnessing what the future generations’ SAT’s are going to look like, I’m experiencing a sort of affection towards the old SAT. Even with its completely irrelevant vocabulary questions and passages that make virtually no sense, the old SAT feels familiar and dependable compared to the new one, which I honestly don’t understand how anyone can prep for, especially current sophomores who have been trained the ‘old SAT’ way up until now. It’s so vague and varying from one question to the next that I can only say one thing:
I’m glad I’m not a sophomore, because they’re in for a tough time next year.