Interviews with Class of 2026 National Merit Students Part 1

About this episode

Dr. Riley interviews Noah, a National Merit student, discussing the impact of a liberal arts education on PSAT performance.

College App 101 podcasts often provide tips on taking the Preliminary SAT, also known as the PSAT. Elite performance on the PSAT during junior year can result in arguably the most prestigious academic honor for a high school student: National Merit status. In the present episode, Dr. Riley interviews Noah, a National Merit student from the high school class of 2026, giving special emphasis to the role of a classical, great books, liberal arts education in preparing testers for the PSAT. Episo...

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Riley

Guest: Noah

Topics covered

• National Merit
• PSAT preparation
• liberal arts education
• high school students
• interviews

Keywords

• National Merit
• PSAT
• education
• interview
• high school
• classical education
• academic honor

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PSAT

Books & works: National Merit status

More episodes of College App 101

• Interviews with Class of 2026 National Merit Students Part 5 · June 10, 2026 · 18 min
• Interviews with Class of 2026 National Merit Students Part 4 (National Merit Finalist!) · May 20, 2026 · 22 min
• Interviews with Class of 2026 National Merit Students Part 3 · May 9, 2026 · 23 min
• Interviews with Class of 2026 National Merit Students Part 2 · April 20, 2026 · 24 min
• Developing a Love for Learning Part 3 · March 15, 2026 · 23 min
• Interview with a College Student about Major · February 14, 2026 · 17 min