It’s Wednesday morning. Hundreds of sophomores and juniors crowd around enormous posters that assign students to their PSAT testing rooms according to last name. As they file into their rooms and get ready to take the test, they move out other teachers and students who are not testing, with the end result of confusion and frustration.

As convenient as it is for test-takers to take the exam during school time, it is equally inconvenient for those being forced out of their classrooms. With all the haywire, one might ask if it is truly appropriate for students to be testing during school time.

After all, the real SAT is taken on a Saturday morning, not a school day. If anything, it would probably be more appropriate for students to take the PSAT on a Saturday morning also so that they can be accustomed to the feeling of taking an exam on an early weekend morning. The PSAT is supposed to be a precursor to the real SAT, isn’t it?

Equally as confusing as the designated time for students to take the test is the actual cost for students to take it. Just like last year, sophomore students were allowed to take the exam free of charge, and were required to take the test if they were present.

Such an action makes almost no sense. The PSAT is also known as the NMSQT, or the National Merit Scholar Qualifying Test. If a student does well enough on it, he or she may be recognized as a National Merit Scholar and may qualify for scholarships.

Here’s the catch—NM scholars can only be juniors. If a specific class is going to be offered to take the test free of charge, why shouldn’t it be the junior class? The test actually matters for them; to the rest of the classes the exam is merely a practice for the real SAT.

Last year, there was a shortage of tests and not all juniors who wanted to take the exam were able to. Luckily, this year, more booklets were ordered and everyone who wanted to take the test could do so.

To have sophomores be an automatic priority for taking the PSAT is ridiculous. I would personally be outraged if I was a junior and couldn’t take the test because some sophomore had my spot.