Many people think that taking the PSAT during school is unnecessary and quite frankly, dumb. The reason people may think this is because during your four years of high school you will take the PSAT a total of three times.  Your freshman year, the point of this is just to get a feel of what both the PSAT and the SAT are like. As a sophomore, the results of your scores will determine whether or not you are eligible for the PSAT Team, which is a semester class that helps prepare students for the SAT. The third and final time you’ll take the PSAT will be your junior year, this is the most important year because it’s to see if your scores are sufficient to be a National Merit Scholar. I’ll be honest here; I was eligible to be apart of the PSAT Team, and I thought it was pointless because in my mind it wouldn’t help me with the actual SAT. I was wrong. Being on the PSAT Team will improve your reading and comprehension skills, your math skills, your writing skills and your test-taking skills in general. Although you learn more every day in school, you don’t review geometry every day on your own. That’s what the PSAT Team is for, it’ll leave what you learn throughout high school fresh in your mind for when you take the SAT. One of the benefits of taking and receiving a high score on the PSAT your junior year are being a National Merit Scholar. This will look incredible on your college applications because it’s hard to become eligible for this, if you receive this honor, you’re considered an extremely smart and capable person. If you’re a finalist, you can get a small scholarship for any college of your choice. Needless to say, the PSAT is important for many reasons.