By: Rebecka Hanner

The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), has been a test to prepare young students’ minds for the SAT. PSATs used to be a required test you had to take to get into college. Now, SATs are rapidly becoming optional in a lot of colleges. Even Ivy League colleges such as Yale or Harvard have made submitting your SAT scores optional. Does that mean schools should still require students to take the PSATs?

While a large portion of high school students go to college, another chunk felt that was not the way for them. However, schools still forced them to complete a practice SAT everywhere. This may seem beneficial to some students, but to others, it is simply an excuse to load more stress onto the students.

According to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, test anxiety is, “a combination of physical symptoms and emotional reactions that interfere with your ability to perform well on tests.” Large tests, typically PSATs or SATs, cause the most anxiety for students. If most colleges are not even requiring SATs, is it truly necessary to make students go through that same stress every year? 

College is not the only route for students.  Forcing students to take the PSAT may influence their opinions on college, whether that be good or bad. PSATs should be optional. It should be up to the students to determine if they deem it useful in their lives. If one has no need for it, then they shouldn’t be forced to go through the hassle of doing it.