Piedmont Students on Wait List for PSAT Will Be Able to Take the Test

A mini-crisis that threatened to leave some Piedmont High School sophomores unable to take the PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test) on Saturday, Oct. 19, has been averted, Piedmont High School Assistant Principal Anne Dolid said today (Wednesday).

She said the school was able to obtain extra copies of the test and sophomores who were placed on a wait list will be able to take the exam. School staff are in the process of notifying those students and their parents, she said.

The PSAT — aimed at high school juniors but open to sophomores as well — serves as a practice test for the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and also, for juniors, as the qualifying exam for the National Merit Scholarship program.

Schools must order copies of the PSAT in advance, with one copy per test taker.

Dolid said two factors contributed to this year's unusual wait list.

About 20 percent more students wanted to take the PSAT this year as compared to fall 2012, an unusually large increase, she said.

Also, the Piedmont Unified School District changed its process to sign up for the PSAT this year, she said.

In past years, students signed up for the test in the counseling office a few weeks before it was to be administered, she said.

This school year, the process differed. Students needed to sign up and purchase the PSAT during school registration in August, Dolid said.

"We didn't communicate that very well — there was a communications breakdown," she said.

PUSD staff ordered tests earlier this fall based on the number of students who had signed up in August — plus several extras. When an unexpected number of students wanted to sign up later in the school year, PUSD didn't have enough tests to go around.

While the district was able to obtain enough copies of the test to accommodate all the juniors who wanted to participate, roughly 15 sophomores were wait listed.

PUSD put in an emergency request for more copies, which have just arrived, Dolid said.

According to the College Board, which provides the tests, the PSAT is offered only once a year and is administered at high schools, not regional test centers. Students must sign up at their schools, not online through the College Board.

Schools this year could choose to offer the test either Wednesday, Oct. 16, or Saturday, Oct. 19. PHS opted for the 19th.

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