The fact that students have to face and prepare for the SATs at one point or another tends to be quite strenuous on the brain. Many say that taking the test gives off a similar experience.
Many students agree on the importance of the SATs but many are beginning to believe it is bbeing lown out of proportion. A good SAT score is a major boost to a college seeker’s confidence as it opens up a lot more opportunities for a student. “It has a lot more weight than you would think,” explained Colonia High School graduate and College freshman, Nicole Hom, “an SAT score can make or break all of your college plans.”
Ultimately, this test is the final piece of information that colleges take into account before accepting or simply looking at a student’s application. The SATs act as a final assessment of a student’s entire school career.
Given all this information, does this still mean that it deserves all the hype that it gets? “Not at all,” says Hom. “Standardized testing has always been a means to analyze students in one clean swoop. Think of the SAT’s as the standardized test of all standardized tests.” Hom goes on to say, “unfortunately there is no other way around it… expressing your intellect through this test is a sure means to making any particular student stand out over another.”
Not only are the SAT’s considered by students to be an integral and complicated test, they also can have an effect on the student taking them. Colonia High School senior, Alex Payne stated that the SATs made him feel, “Nervous yet confident.”
Another Colonia High School senior, Tyler Goldberg said that, “studying for the SATs early can mean the difference between getting an 1800 or a 2300. I have taken SAT courses over the past year and I still feel as if I’m not prepared. It is pretty stressful.”
Students who have already taken this test and have already passed with a decent enough score still feel as if it’s not enough. “This is the sort of test that you can take several times, so I am going to make use of that opportunity to do the best that I can,” noted Goldberg.
Both Payne and Goldberg expressed that they were not getting enough sleep due to the stress and anxiety of the upcoming SAT test. “As seniors, we have a lot of responsibilities. Whether it is applying to colleges, doing our school work or studying for the SAT’s, we have a lot to take care of,” Goldberg said.
The formula for a good SAT score is “studying and resting.” When asked whether or not all this hard work was worth it, the students responded positively saying that it absolutely was. CHS offers a SAT prep course and SAT tutoring on Wednesday that can help reduce text anxiety by teaching students strategies to tackle various testing situations. Ask a Guidance Counselor about taking this class if you are interested.
