As students proceed through high school, testing becomes a huge part of their lives. Midterms, finals and standardized testing are some of the biggest tests students will ever take. Students can start taking standardized tests, like the PSAT or SAT, in their sophomore year; however, this does not limit students to midterms or finals. While many tests like the SAT are very important, they pioneer students’ ability to get into college and give them a stronger sense of how they stand academically.

Students often stress about standardized testing. When students are so worried about college decisions, tests like the PSAT cause them to overwork themselves and further cause them to become overwhelmed. Tests like the SAT and ACT are a way to measure student intelligence, but they do not offer an effective way to measure intelligence in ways other than math, science or English. Many students are very advanced in their respective fields: art, history or sports. While the tests offer a way for students to measure their intelligence, they fail to include students who thrive in other subjects, and only punish them instead of applauding them.

“I thought the PSAT was very beneficial for me because it is an affordable option to test my skills,” Helena Buli (11) said. “It is nice to see where I stand academically, even though it [PSAT] does not do that much for college.”

While standardized tests offer a great academic foundation for students, they also cause students to learn the wrong way. Tests like the SAT and PSAT are rooted in memorization. This causes many students to not actually learn the material, and instead look for keywords and processes. While it is useful to score a 1600 on the SAT, it does not correlate to the real world. To score well on midterms and finals, students have to understand and actually apply what they have learned.

Students in the district have begun taking standardized tests in hopes of scoring well. With the Oct. PSAT recently happening, as well as the Oct. SAT, students are beginning to get their scores back. While scores can dictate what scholarships students are eligible for, they can also cause greater harm to their self-esteem. Students across the country struggle with test taking, so when comparing scores, it causes many students to feel unhappy about how they did.

Standardized tests also target upper-class, non-person-of-color individuals. The SAT, PSAT and ACT all cost money and while it might not seem like a lot to many, some students are not able to afford it. Additionally, these students have limited resources to help them study. An array of students have the opportunity to do test preparations, but it costs a large sum of money and only limits the preparation courses to the higher class.

Standardized tests only hurt students more than they help, and will continue to cause harm and problems to young adults across the country.

“I took the fall SAT to see where I stand academically, but also to get a score for college applications. I did not do that good, but honestly, it does not have much correlation with college. I just took it because my parents wanted me to,” Payton Bickerstaff (12) said.