@auntbea Students should be taking the PSAT by the fall of their junior year to be considered for the National Merit Scholarship competition, not the SAT. Then if they qualify as semifinalists via PSAT, they must earn a confirming score on the SAT. My D17 only took the SAT once - to “confirm” her PSAT index. (We’re ACT types 'round here.)
This is not to say that OP wasn’t given bad advice from the GC as far as not creating a solid list of schools, which is demonstrably the case. Just sayin’.