Colton, CA—On October 13, 9th and 10th grade student at Colton High will be taking the PSAT. The PSAT, or Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, will help students know what subjects they need to improve upon as they prepare for college application.

The PSAT is an ungraded test, given through the College Board. The results will not affect student grades.

For 9th grade students, they will get an idea of what to improve when they take the test again in 10th grade. They will take the test on Google Chromebooks.

Students in grade 10 will use the results of the PSAT to identify what academic areas they will focus on in preparation for taking the SAT in 11th and 12th grade. The SAT is used by colleges and universities as part of their admission requirements. For 10th graders, their test will be taken on paper using traditional scantrons.

The October 13 administration of the PSAT is scheduled for periods 1-3. Students will be excused from attending their second and third period classes to take the test, then resume their normal schedule starting with 4th period.

Testing will begin at 7:35 a.m., per requirements of the College Board. Students who are tardy to first period and are unable to make the initial start time will be tested at a different location by school administration.

Students are not allowed to use electronic devices during the test. All devices will be stored in backpacks and kept in a secure location in each testing room. Students can bring their own calculators. The online test has a built-in calculator in its software, but students can still use their own.

The PSAT scoring scale is between 320-1520, and has three major sections: math, reading, and writing/language. For more information about how scoring works, PrepScholar breaks it down clearly.