Are students in MD required to take it? Everyone at our schools around here are “allowed” to skip it - you have to opt in. Forced PSAT seems of little value for some.
If a student isn’t expecting NM qualification but is expecting to take the SAT for college, the PSAT can still serve as good practice. The student learns the mechanics of the testing process and can feed the results into Khan Academy for tailored practice. All without having a permanent score on record as when the SAT is the first time facing standardized testing.