By Jameson Colbert, SHR sophomore
Scores for the October 2011 PSATs have come in.
They reveal that SHR student Emma Carpenter, now a senior, has scored within the top 5 percent of the 1.5 million students who have taken the test.
On the reason why she decided to take the test, Emma simply said it was for “good practice.”
The term PSAT stands for Preliminary SAT. SAT, much like the distress call SOS, is an empty acronym and means nothing today.
The PSAT tests are usually associated with the National Merit Scholarship Program — the program that administers the tests nation wide.
Emma also received “Commended” status by the NMSP. “I was pretty happy about it,” she said about her successes.
SHR Guidance Counselor Jon DeSimone explained what it means to rewarded Commended status.
”It means she (Emma) was in the top 1 percent in the country of 1 million other people.” He said Emma scored beyond the 5 percent, and scored within the 1 percent.
Mr. DeSimone also noted: “It’s the third highest place (one could get) behind Finalist and Semi-Finalist.”
Emma now has shown SHR the importance of practicing and studying. Also, she has shown that getting into the third-highest place in the PSAT/NMSP and scoring within the top 5 percent is very possible.

