Why SAT

If you live in the Northern hemisphere and venture out into the world on occasion, you will become aware of the return of warm weather. You might notice a few more drunk people walking around your house, college students escaping into the summer holidays. Weddings, proms, and evenings sitting on the porch come around for a few months and we relish every moment. And as everyone is preparing for the wonderful new season, an evil makes its way into existence: SATs.

In reality, they are not that bad at all, but no one looks forward to them. They are a dreaded locale in the lives of high school students across the states. When you think about it, SATs literally take up five hours from your day, once or twice in your lifetime. They allow for you to exhibit a mere few skills the best you can. This is all for college admissions, and you are screwed if you aren’t a test taker. Who could’ve possibly thought up such a thing?

Ew.

The whole point of an SAT score (or ACT) was telling a college where your strengths lie, and where you need work. However, some humans decided it’s cool to make it competitive and a near death situation. For this reason, I spent a couple of the weeks leading up to last Saturday’s SAT relearning math from three years ago. I take a Pre-Calculus class, and do very well. But for some reason, trying to shovel a bunch of geometry in my head was not working.

Finally, three days before test day (oh how terrifying), I stopped. What was I doing? Studying for a test there is no point in studying for? I came to the conclusion that the only thing I could do was my best, despite how much I loathed long, timed, bubble sheet tests. And low and behold, the test was not so bad. Sure, half of my brain was stir fry after, but it really wasn’t as horrifying and daunting as it seemed.

I am no fan of standardized testing (http://thenormalm.blogspot.com/2013/03/ah-standardized-testing.html), at least how it is viewed in modern light. We see it as an opportunity to see who is the best and most likely to succeed. Really, SATs or ACTs simply measure a couple of skills (comprehension of the English language, basic mathematics, test taking). Of course, these test scores are definitely not the deciding factor of one’s acceptance into college. Yet students everywhere are required to take this test in order to apply for most colleges. Why have they become more of an obstacle? Rather, why are these skills so important that if you haven’t had good schooling, they prevent you from the opportunity to have a better education? I do not mind taking the test; I do mind that the test files me away into a group of applicants.