Testing Troubles

As the testing season approaches, students are ramping up their studying. While some students are confident in their academic capabilities, others may not be. A lot of students describe a lot of burnout and overwhelming pressure to do well on these tests. Standardized testing does not always go well with students, especially at this age.

“I’m feeling okay,” junior Sofia Araujo claimed. “I only studied for the SAT and the pressure I feel only comes from the parents and the school.”

Leyna Gibson added on “I’m a bit stressed about the tests; there's a lot of pressure to do well on the SAT for colleges.”

For many students the SAT is the gateway to their college dreams. Some people, for this reason, think the pressure is justified.

“I do think the pressure is justified. I mean your whole college career and where you end up relies on tests like the SAT and ACT,” Sofi said.

Quinn Owen, another junior, countered that statement claiming, “I do feel like there's too much pressure with the test, but I also understand why they are there; however, now that they're online I think they are significantly easier to prepare for.”

Leyna Gibson had more of a neutral view: “Maybe? On one hand it's important to do well if you want to get into a selective college, but it also feels dumb that so much rides on one test.”

Preparation tactics vary widely, some with personal tutors, self-study, practice tests, and even the SAT prep class.

“I took the SAT prep class and also some college board practice tests,” Quinn explained.

Leyna took a more casual approach: “I vaguely studied. I skimmed a prep book for strategies to use, and I memorized a couple of formulas that I had forgotten, but that’s about it.”

She added that her prep included small comforts; “My preparations mostly look like getting enough sleep, bringing snacks, wearing something comfy, etc.”

Mal Memon, another junior, said she tracked mistakes and grinded through tough practice problems. But despite all of the practicing and all the work, the psychological toll on students is unimaginable.

“Yes, I do think test anxiety needs to be taken more seriously. If I wasn't so anxious, I feel I would perform much better,” Sofia explained.

Mal agreed with Sofia, reiterating that “nobody takes test anxiety seriously.”

While Leyna said she doesn’t personally experience much test anxiety, she emphasized its importance: "I know people who do experience it. I think that schools should focus more on providing students with the tools to deal with test anxiety and strategies for taking tests, which I don’t think we really ever get.”

Standardized testing, which is meant to level the academic playing field, more times than not ends up triggering self-doubt and insecurity.

“I have compared scores before and it didn't feel great because mine were lower,” Sofia admitted.

However, Mal avoids the comparison all together: “I only told a few people directly, however I was hearing my own score from people I had never even told.”

Leyna acknowledged how comparisons can hurt both sides. “My scores are honestly usually higher than my friends', which tends to make me feel kind of bad about doing well sometimes. It’s good to have an understanding of how your score stands, but I’ve become especially aware of how it can unintentionally make people feel bad, both about a lower and a higher score.”

So in reality, does the testing truly measure success?

A lot of students don't think so because there are multiple different factors that contribute to testing like test anxiety, the amount of sleep you got, what you ate, the noise level in the room, and much more. A lot of students don't feel the test really measures success because it's one test out of about seven hundred and twenty days of high school.

Quinn Owens states, “I don't think they're any better than my GPA but I understand the test is helpful as an equalizer.”

However Mal swung the other way: “A score is just a measure of how well you were able to do on a certain day with a certain set of problems.”

Leyna offered a middle ground: “I think there has to be some way to tell the thousands of students apart, but it’s also important to recognize that not everybody is a good test taker. Colleges should make sure to look at the full picture of a student rather than just the test score.”

However, when students were asked about the future of standardized testing everyone was divided.

“I honestly don't know, it could go either way,” Sofia said.

Schools shifted away from test scores and went to optional testing after the pandemic but now they are shifting back to mandatory testing.

“Unfortunately, schools and colleges use standardized testing data for so many things, including scholarships. And with standardized testing, people become naturally curious as to how other people did to try to gauge whether or not they did well,” Mal Memon stated.