Interviews with Class of 2026 National Merit Students Part 3

About this episode

Dr. Riley interviews Jack, a National Merit student from the class of 2026, discussing the impact of a liberal arts education on PSAT performance.

Over the years, College App 101 podcasts have provided many 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 high school students: National Merit status. In the present episode, Dr. Riley interviews Jack, 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...

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Riley

Guest: Jack

Topics covered

• National Merit
• PSAT
• education
• interview
• liberal arts

Keywords

• National Merit
• PSAT
• classical education
• great books
• liberal arts

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Preliminary SAT

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 2 · April 20, 2026 · 24 min
• Interviews with Class of 2026 National Merit Students Part 1 · April 11, 2026 · 20 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