Why Students Need to Stop Studying for the PSAT

 I do more than ADHD coaching.  I’m also a tutor.  I work on the Wyzant platform (if you are looking for me) and I tutor high school and college students in English and the humanities.  Fall is a busy time for tutors.  The students have started new classes and it takes about a month to start falling behind or to realize you are in over your head.  It’s also time for college admission essays.  On top of that, it’s time for the PSAT.  I hate the PSAT.  Well, not the test.  I have problems with the test, but I don’t hate it.  I hate how it’s handled.  Many schools just tell students when they will be taking the PSAT and they do that on short notice, unlike the SAT or ACT, which is scheduled and planned for months in advance.  Which isn’t to say that nobody knows it’s coming.  It’s coming.  You’ve known that since 7th grade.  Somewhere between mid-October and mid-November, the PSAT will be given.  It happens every year.  You know what else happens every year?  Requests to help students cram for the PSAT.  Students find out that the PSAT will be given in two weeks or one week or (as happened to a student of mine this semester) two days.  This seems really unfair.  It is certainly shocking.  It definitely causes a lot of anxiety.  But it’s not unfair.  And here’s why it’s not unfair: You can’t study for the PSAT. 

I know, I’m gonna get backlash from that.  But it’s true.  It’s just not that kind of test.  It’s not a test of knowledge; it’s a test of skills.  Now, it is perfectly possible to improve one’s reading, writing, and math skills.  But that isn’t really done by studying; it’s done by practice.  If you want to be a better reader, read.  If you want to be a better writer, write.  If you want to be better at math… okay, study the formulas.  But once you know them, then all you can do is do the math.  What you absolutely can’t do is cram.  There’s nothing to cram.  You can practice and should, but that should just be part of learning.  If you can’t pick out the main idea of a reading passage, there’s nothing that can be done in 72 hours that will change that.  Just like an IQ test, the PSAT measures how you think and process information.

The PSAT is like an IQ test in another very important way.  They’re both meaningless.  The IQ test has no scientific basis and cannot measure how well a person can learn and the PSAT has no scientific basis and cannot measure how well a person has learned.  Really, the only thing the PSAT measures is how well you might do on the SAT.  And that’s all it’s supposed to measure.  That P stands for Practice.  The PSAT is there to help you learn what areas you might want to improve before taking the SAT.  But you can’t study for the SAT either.  Which is why the PSAT is given at least one year in advance of the SAT.  To give students time to improve their skills, not learn new material.
And not doing well on the PSAT or SAT does not predict college (or life) success.  If you want to know how well you will do in college, then look at how well you did in high school.  College isn’t a collection of standardized tests; it’s a collection of classes.  GPA is a better indicator of how well a student will do in college.  But even that… college is different than high school.  In many ways, it’s more flexible and more adaptable.  Students who don’t do well in high school may thrive in college because they get to create their schedule, pick their classes, determine their own path.  And some who do well in high school flounder in college for the same reasons.  What is most likely to help students succeed in college is support.  If a student goes to a college that fits their passions and personality, if a student has friends and family to lean on in the hard times, if a student takes advantage of the services colleges provide, that is going to determine if they thrive.
Let’s take some of the pressure off of our high school students.  Stop studying for the PSAT.  Use those scores for what they are meant for, to see if there are areas where skills can be improved.  Work on improving those skills, if you like.  But the PSAT does not determine a child’s future.  Stop acting like it does.

I Don’t Know Why They Say It Isn’t: Failure Is Always An Option

 Why does failure have to be a negative thing?  Who decreed it so?  Who decided people should always succeed?  Don’t get me wrong; I like success.  It’s great.  I’ll even go so far as to say that I prefer success over failure.  But failure’s fine, too.  Why not? 

Most pro-failure posts are going to go on about how great failure is because that’s how you learn.  And it absolutely is.  That’s pretty much the only way to learn.  But what if you fail and it turns out that it’s not a learning opportunity.  It just didn’t work out.  That’s okay, too.  Not everything in life has to matter.  Not everything has to have value.  Sometimes, stuff just happens.  Sure, it’s wonderful if you can learn from a failure and use it to motivate you to improve.  Yeah, you go!   
When I went for the written portion of my driving test, back in the days when we used dinosaurs (do you know how hard it is to parallel park a Brontosaurus?), I failed.  That’s it.  I took the test and I didn’t get enough answers right and I failed the test.  I went back the next day and retook the test and passed it.  Not the best story.  I didn’t learn a lesson about perseverance or determination.  There was no montage of me staying up all night, surrounded by books with titles like, “The Law of the Road” and “Driving and You,” drinking too much coffee, falling asleep with pencils in my hair.  I didn’t have an emotional breakthrough as I discovered that, yes, test anxiety is real and I have it!  I don’t think I even studied again.  I just shrugged it off, came back the next day, and got my permit.  No, it wasn’t material for an After School Special or Lifetime Movie.  But it also wasn’t material for an After School Special or Lifetime Movie, if you see what I am saying.  It was just something that happened.  I don’t know why.  Maybe I was distracted or nervous.  Maybe I didn’t read the questions (or answers) correctly.  Maybe... I can’t even think of a reason.  I just didn’t pass.  It wasn’t meaningful or tragic or inspirational.   
Life is filled with so many giant, life-changing events, but not everything has to be one.  It’s okay to fail and have it mean nothing.  Unless you are skydiving, you should feel free to fail.  Most of the time, it isn’t going to matter.  Sometimes it will be good.  It will mean that you’ve learned something and that you have the opportunity to change and explore new paths and possibilities.  Embrace those moments!  They can change your whole outlook on life.  They can be what drives you.  They can be the best things that ever happen to you.  Or it will be something you never really think about again. 

Why does this matter?  Because fear of failure stops people from doing things.  Things they want to do.  Things they need to do.  Things that will help them grow and will allow them to live the life they want to live.  People are afraid to fail because someone said failure is bad.  Again, I don’t know who, but it must have been someone important because now almost everyone agrees failure is bad.  But most people can’t tell you why.  Just simply because it isn’t success.  But what if we stopped thinking that?  What if we strived to do our best for the sake of doing our best and not for the sake of succeeding?  What if we tried things and didn’t worry about the outcome?   
Yes, of course, there are times when success really matters.  I hope that my surgeon and my banker and my veterinarian are all very successful.  But does it really matter if you don’t pass a test when you are allowed to retake the test as many times as you want?  No.  Not really.  Does it really matter if you lose at bar trivia or at a pick-up basketball game?  Does it really matter if you look stupid when you dance?  No, none of that matters.  Go try something new.  If you fail at it, that’s okay.  If you don’t learn anything when you fail at it, that’s okay, too.  You can pick yourself up and try again or you can just move on to something else.   

Does 9-5 and 1.9 Kids in the Suburbs Sounds Like Death to You?

That's okay.  Frankly, I'm right there with you.  But many people seem to like that sort of thing, so I'm not going to rag on it.  I don't need to tear down someone else's dreams to live mine.  But we have to stop equating 35 years and a gold watch to success.  Yes, that can be success, but it's not the only kind.  The world has changed.  There is far less company loyalty.  Almost everybody is an at-will employee.  In the last 20 years, people working independent contractor (1099) jobs has risen 30% (Harvard/Princeton).   People change jobs, if not careers, every 4.2 years (Bureau of Labor Statistics).  What a great time to have ADHD!  This is the world for you.  Sorry everyone else. 

It is a time of self-employment.  ADHD folks can be fiercely independent and they are go-getters.  And nowadays, you don't have to work for anyone else.  If you have a marketable skill or product, start your own business.  If you think you can do something better, go do it.  Build that start up, open that doggy daycare, sell your art.  

It is a time of innovation.  If anyone can build you a better mousetrap, it's someone with ADHD.  If you can't find a job you want to do, then create one.  Be a professional bridemaid.  Or bring back phrenology.  Review ice cream on YouTube.  Start a lizard farm (I don't know where you will find lizard-sized tractors, but you'll figure it out).

It is a time of multiple income streams.  How great is that when you have a bunch of interests that you bounce between?  You don't have to have a job; you can have five.  You can spend time polishing rocks and then do some coding and move on to brusking and call all of that work.  It's okay that none of those is likely to support you because all of them will.  

It's a time of remote work.  You can work from literally (almost) anywhere!  You can work all over the world while sitting in one place or you can work in one place while you travel the world.  Restless, bored, looking for adventure?  Well, then get up and get moving.  Work can come with you!

It's a time of risk-taking.  The big risks can pay those big rewards.  There is value in being able to take that leap of faith, try that crazy idea, make the unpopular decision.  Sometimes you just have to jump and hope the net is there.  
This is a time tailor-made for the ADHD brain.  You can live your big dreams.  Or a bunch of small ones.  You can find your passion and then live to work or work to live.   You don't have to hold down a job.  You don't have to live like everyone else.  You can be you.  

And that is what success is.  Success is being comfortable with yourself, who you are, and just how f-ing cool you are.  Success is living the life that fits you best.  Success is joy.  
I would love to hear from you guys.  Leave a comment and tell me about your success.