McLean resident and National Cathedral School junior, Ellen Kim, left, received a perfect score on the 2014 PSAT. For the past two years she has been a member of NCS’s on-air team for the It’s Academic TV quiz show. Photo courtesy of National Cathedral School
Every year in October, roughly 3.5 million high school students across the country take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The test is used for entry into the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) Competition, which can provide college scholarships to eligible students who achieve high scores. Students are scored in three sections, math, critical reading and writing, and under a time crunch to answer as many questions correctly and as quickly as possible. The difficulty of the questions, the strategy required in order to do well and the sheer number of test takers makes it hard for even the brightest students to stand out on this test.
But when McLean resident Ellen Kim received her PSAT scores back in December 2014, she found out she had achieved 240 points, or a perfect score, on the test.
“In the back of my mind I was always hoping, but it was surprising,” said Kim, who took the test only once before. “I know time management is a big thing I worked on a lot. Not specifically for the PSAT, but in general for test taking.”
Kim, 16, is a junior at National Cathedral School, an all-girls private school in Washington, D.C., and while she will not find out more about the NMSC Competition until Fall 2015, her parents are proud of her accomplishments thus far.
“It was very great, very exciting news,” said Kim’s father, Stephen. “We certainly did not expect it. She has always been a good student, and to do so well on a test like the PSAT is a great accomplishment.”
Despite her high score, Kim does not consider the test easy, and her advice to other students looking to do well is to know the format of the test and the types of questions that will be asked.
“The school gave us these official SAT practice books and they helped a lot for getting to know the test,” said Kim.
Like any high school student, though, her schedule consists of more than just the academics. In the fall she plays varsity volleyball, and she is also an active member of her school’s student government, serving as this year’s class president.
“I’ve always liked student government. I’ve served in ninth, tenth and now eleventh grade. And so I guess it’s something I’ve just really grown into,” said Kim.
One of her biggest priorities as class president is making sure that she connects to other people and reaches out to members of her class. One way that she reached out this year was by starting a Science Olympiad team with one of her friends to increase interest in science and to show its connection to students’ everyday lives.
“Each person on the team gets a topic to study. It can be anything from bridge-building to anatomy to astronomy. So it’s really just a great way to explore scientific areas. I just thought it would be fun to help promote the sciences more since we’re more liberal arts focused,” she said.
With a diverse set of interests, a strong PSAT score and college applications soon on the horizon, Kim is still in no hurry to rush through her junior year.
“I’m trying not to think too much about college plans. I’ve done some college touring on the east coast, but I don’t have a list of my top schools yet,” said Kim.
“For us, we think she needs to start thinking about college,” laughed her father. Kim will find out about her standing in the NMSC Competition in Fall 2015.