On Oct. 9, Jesuit High School Sacramento students will come to campus just like any other day – only this time they will be taking grade-specific tests instead of attending class. National Test Day exists to help students prepare for the different standardized tests that they will encounter in the college admissions process, giving them a baseline of where they stand amongst others in their graduating year throughout the nation.

Freshman will take the Educational Development test, or EDT. This test is very similar to the entrance exam they took as eighth graders entering Jesuit, and it is a good test to identify strengths and weaknesses in students to guide them on their high school journey.  

Sophomores and juniors will take the Pre-ACT and PSAT respectively, which will help prepare them for the real ACT and SAT tests that they will be taking in the future.  

Juniors can further benefit from the National Testing Day by doing well because scores from the PSAT are used to identify individuals as candidates for National Merit Scholarships. This is a prestigious honor and can provide students with immense scholarship opportunities; it is definitely something that Juniors should keep in mind as the test approaches.

Director of Scheduling & Testing Mr. David Zielke believes that taking these tests is an invaluable tool for developing the skills needed to excel on the SAT and ACT.  

“It’s important that we give our students opportunities to take standardized tests because they’re eventually going to have to,” Mr. Zielke said. “The vast majority of our kids are going to apply to four-year schools. Taking these kinds of tests, working under a timeline and a little bit of stress, […] I think that’s valuable as a college prep institution.”

That’s a major goal of National Testing Day – giving students the opportunity to experience a realistic standardized testing situation.  

Last year, the PSAT and SAT made a landmark change by switching to a new digital format. The ACT followed by opening a few select test centers for digital testing. The new frontier of standardized testing for college hopefuls brought some initial concerns, but Assistant to the AP for Academics Ms. Margie Wagner, believes that the new digital test is easier to administer than the old paper one.  

“We’ve been through the process a few times […] and have figured out how to manage some of those situations that we weren’t anticipating; it is an easier way to do the testing,” Ms. Wagner said. “The fact that each student is timed differently, I think it’s helpful.” 

National Test Day plays a key role in preparing Jesuit students with experience that could prove crucial when they find themselves in an exam room.