Tesoro seniors Nazlee Khalili, Ayati Mishra, Ryan Nguyen, Nicholas Pastorkovich, Carlo Vellandi, and Calvin Zhang were named Semifinalists in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. (Original reports include a "Fiona Lee" who does not appear to be a current Tesoro student.)
The top 1% scoring juniors on the PSAT qualify to be National Merit Semifinalists. About 15,000 of the more than 16,000 Semifinalists become finalists, and some 7,140 go on to be National Merit Scholars. The National Merit Scholarship program is not only a scholarship opportunity, but it is also a prestigious recognition.
The PSAT at Tesoro is offered to all grades, but only juniors can qualify for National Merit qualification. The registration window is closed, but the test will take place on October 14. This will be the first fully digital PSAT, as both it and the SAT move away from paper tests. The digital test is slightly different from the past test; both English sections and both math sections are merged. There are two modules per section, and the second module changes in difficulty depending on how difficult the first one is. After one module is completed, the student cannot go back.
The English section has 27 questions and 32 minutes per module, with 54 questions to complete in 64 minutes. A highlighter and note tool is available to annotate the passages.
Because the two math tests are merged together, calculators are permitted during the entire math portion. In addition, the test has a built-in graphing calculator, but it may be smart to bring your own to have a quicker pace. There are 22 questions and 35 minutes per module, giving the test taker about one minute and 35 seconds per question. The reference sheet will be online, and it is the same as before the digital test.
The Bluebook app has practice problems and practice tests that will function the same as the test. In addition, Khan Academy has resources to learn and practice the material. Congratulations again to our National Merit Semifinalists, and good luck to anyone taking the test this October 14!
For more details on taking the PSAT: https://youtu.be/yljPogCcKrY