<p>It’s 2:28 a.m. (ET) and I hope you’re not awake to read this. :)</p>
<p>You are going to be <em>fine</em>. Your dedication is a really good sign as far as your SAT goes. But your PSAT score is <em>not</em> make-or-break. The PSAT is not going to be a major factor in your college apps. . . just a little icing on the cake and a chance to try out the waters for your SAT. And even for the SAT, you have 2 or 3 tries and quite a few months ahead of you before you take it for the last time. </p>
<p>Don’t worry! I swear to you, you will not be brutally judged on this exam when it comes time to apply to your dream schools. Think of it as a practice, and good luck!</p>
<p>It’s 2:28 a.m. (ET) and I hope you’re not awake to read this. :)</p>
<p>You are going to be <em>fine</em>. Your dedication is a really good sign as far as your SAT goes. But your PSAT score is <em>not</em> make-or-break. The PSAT is not going to be a major factor in your college apps. . . just a little icing on the cake and a chance to try out the waters for your SAT. And even for the SAT, you have 2 or 3 tries and quite a few months ahead of you before you take it for the last time. </p>
<p>Don’t worry! I swear to you, you will not be brutally judged on this exam when it comes time to apply to your dream schools. Think of it as a practice, and good luck!</p>
<p>You remind me of myself. Relax. I was all wound up, ended up trying to cram before the test and got no sleep because i was nervous. I ended up not even getting national merit recognition.</p>
<p>It actually really doesn’t matter that much. I wouldn’t consider becoming a NMS a “hook”. It looks good on the resume, but if you dont have it, it won’t ruin your chances and I doubt it will be a major factor when measured against your real SAT scores, GPA, etc</p>
<p>i just realized that i am not national merit material because of crictical readin. Now that i know that i wont get national merit and that the test is on saturaday i dont even feel like showing up. I know when the score report comes back that i am going to be dissapoointed. </p>
<p>Somethign has happene to me. I have stopped studying and i dont even care about it anymore, but it is in a dark kind of way i dont care like the way you dont care that your aunt died or something. Maybe becasue i dont want to be so despondent when my scores come back So i am tellig myself that i am going to to bad so i wont get a big shock.</p>
<p>That is called depression. It results cognitively from a mismatch between your aspirations and your current circumstances. Some people are more vulnerable to depression than others, but unless your relative has died, or your house burned down, or something like that, it is unhealthy to have kind of sense of despondency. (By the way, you must be fairly well read if you know the word “despondent” at your age.) </p>
<p>Look for resources to help teens deal with depression. Those can include physician-prescribed medication, but they should always include cognitive therapy that helps you get out of the rut of all-or-nothing thinking. </p>
<p>The test is on Saturday for you. You have time to do something fun and relaxing on Friday and to go take the test on Saturday. Don’t worry about the results beforehand. Just think of the test as an interesting challenge like other things you have succeeded at doing: I’m guessing you learned to walk, talk, and dress yourself back before the years of your earliest clear memories. There’s still plenty to learn, and life is an adventure at any age.</p>
<p>Krusty, 99+% of the people won’t make NMS so it is really not a big deal not making it. You shall treat PSAT as what it is mainly for, practice for SAT. It is shorter, easier, and give you a sense of what the SAT is about. Try your best but don’t ever lose sleep over this test. Good luck this Saturday.</p>