The PSAT is coming near. Even though this test is sent out by the College Board and not mandated by the state, sophomores do not have to worry about the prices — Fayette County pays for them. This is a huge waste of money for just a practice test.  

The County is spending money on a group of people that might not take the test seriously, because it doesn’t count for grades and they don’t have to pay for it.

The results that the students receive are supposed to tell them their academic strengths and struggles, but instead they end up not reflecting the students’ best work. Students may not feel the need to properly prepare for a test that won’t affect them or cause them any stress later on.

The PSAT is also at the beginning of the year, so the test is only testing students’ knowledge for the previous year and what little knowledge they have learned in the first couple months.

Only the scores that juniors get on the PSAT are able to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship. Other than that particular scholarship, the PSAT scores are useless. So then why is Fayette County wasting their time and resources on it for sophomores?

Starr’s Mill has about 300 sophomores and each test costs $16, which means that the County is spending $4,800 for one school. Fayette County consists of five high schools.  This is a lot of students to pay for that won’t take this resource seriously.

If the students haven’t even bothered to prepare for the PSAT because it’s given to them for free, they won’t be prepared for the SAT either.

In students’ junior year they should be able to understand all the material that is on the SAT and not need to take a four-hour practice test if they can do much cheaper and with time efficient studying methods, such as Khan Academy’s completely free SAT practice.

These potentially free ways to prepare for the SAT are more helpful if the the students and their families find themselves not able to pay for the PSAT.

The PSAT has become a waste a time for students and a waste of money for the county.