It started with a room full of freshmen who had never taken a PSAT before, but among them was a girl who would almost ace the test. The freshman girl had stressed about this test before even taking it. She wanted to prove to herself that she had the talent and smarts to do well on it. Weeks later, her results came back. She had scored a 1330 out of 1520, landing in the 99+  percentile of testers. 

Kailey Morgan was that freshman girl who scored so high on the PSAT. Despite not having taken a test like this before, she passed with flying colors. She continues to study hard and is practicing until she takes the PSAT again next school year.

The PSAT is also the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test for students their junior year. Scoring so high on the first attempt means Morgan has the potential to become a National Merit Scholar. 

“When I saw my score I felt like I could have done better,” Morgan said. “Though I didn’t fully realize how high a score like that was at first.”

Morgan has often struggled with how she views grades. She always goes the extra mile on an assignment just because she feels attached to it. In return, she wants to make the best possible grades and has struggled realizing grades aren’t everything.

“I really overachieve on everything,” Morgan said. “I often get burnout, but it’s hard to stop.”

Morgan acknowledges that she does display frequent traits of someone with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). People with ASD are more likely to score higher on tests and assignments because they fixate on them and often feel empty and unsatisfied with anything that isn’t the best possible.

“I know I display traits of ASD, but I never thought about why I performed so well on tests,” Morgan said. “I just thought I usually perform well on tests. I never thought about why.”

Morgan is working and studying hard for her next test. She is also taking into consideration how she prepared for her first PSAT.

“To prepare myself for the test, I had gotten a good night’s rest and ate well,” Morgan said. “These are just simple things you can do to prepare for a major test.” 

Morgan underestimated the score she would get at first. She was under the impression she was going to score low.

“I was nervous,” Morgan said. “I expected to score much lower because of struggling on the reading section and the math with calculator section.” 

It came as a surprise to many teachers and students to learn that a freshman scored so high on their first PSAT. There is a general impression of Morgan’s academic performance due to having the second highest GPA in her class, but regardless, it was shocking.

“It’s really shocking because you don’t usually see freshman scoring so high,” Morgan said. “I’m trying not to get cocky, but I’m proud of myself.” 

Morgan’s parents expressed the admiration they had for their daughter’s hard work, saying they were overall proud of their daughter. 

“We were so proud when we found out,” Morgan’s mother Pamela Morgan said. “I was so happy for her.”

Morgan’s parents did not expect any lower, however. They knew that Morgan would score well.

“She’s very smart,” Morgan’s father Boby Morgan said. “We knew she could do it without any trouble at all.”

Morgan acknowledges all the growth and work that went into her score. She accepts that she earned the score through her dedication to her school work. 

“In the end I was happy with my score,” Morgan said. “And I’m going to keep striving until I can do the very best I can possibly do.”