Every year, RCHS sophomores take the PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test), in preparation for the actual SAT administered by the College Board. This year the PSAT was offered as a new, digital format and took place during 4th period on 17 Oct. 2023.

“The PSAT [was] digital this year, so we did have to change some things around. Instead of having all of the sophomores in the MPR, that’s not going to work this year, so we had to move students to classrooms around campus and the gym and the MPR,” RCHS Assistant Principal of Student Services Richard Martin said. 

Students commonly take the SAT in their junior and senior years, and it serves as a benchmark in core subjects English and Math to see where students place. While the SAT and tests like it, notably the ACT, are being phased out throughout the country with most schools going test-optional and the University of California system going test-blind, RCHS school administrators still find it important that students at least take the PSAT.

“It’s important for [students] to take the test because it’s a cumulative test that shows where you [benchmark],” RCHS counselor Moui Fifita said.

According to Fifita, the PSAT can still benefit students who aren’t planning on going to college.

“It serves as an opportunity to show where students are in terms of the most general subjects taught at school, so I still encourage students to take it seriously and try on the exam,” Fifita said.

There were a lot of logistical factors that school administrators had to sort out, including which classes students would go to. 

The test took about two hours as it’s structured the same at the regular SAT.

“The PSAT was easier than expected,” sophomore Kennedy Ewing-Chow said. “However, after at least 2 hours of sitting [the whole time], I felt fatigued.”