On Wednesday, juniors took the PSAT test, used to determine qualification for the highly-competitive National Merit Scholarship Program.

As many as 1.52 million juniors compete for the National Merit Scholarship Program every year acrossthe country.

“I did it because everyone else was doing it,” junior Blair Street said.

However, some students do not bother to compete.

“I should have,” junior Clayton Schneider said. “I don’t know why I didn’t though.”

Hopes are high for the students who took the test.

“I think I did fantastic,” Street said.

Only 16 thousand students who took the PSAT in 2011 qualified as National Merit Semi-Finalists.

Two seniors qualified for the National Merit Scholarship Program after taking the PSAT last year. Senior Christopher Rooney qualified as a National Merit Semi-Finalist and senior Corinne Zeigler qualified as a National Merit Commended Student after taking the test last year.

13chess@usd489.com