May 5th was not only the day of junior prom, but was also a significant day for junior’s future. State High Juniors were taking the SAT’s in the morning and went straight to Prom. “I was a little bit stressed before prom, but taking the test on prom day made me feel like I did something productive that day which was nice, ” said Meghan Phughes.

Usually students do not study the first time they take the test to get an overall vibe and know which area[s] they can improve upon. Junior Chloe Shellgrove said, “I took it in August for the first time without studying, so that when I take it again and study, I’ll know what the test is like.”                             

May fifth often the second time juniors take the test. Junior Patrick Osborne said, “Overall I think they went pretty well. It was my second time taking them so I knew a little more what to expect. I wanted to do well but I wasn’t too scared because I’d done ok on the last one and was just trying to improve my score. I studied a little about a week before the test. ”
Then they could also figure out certain strategies to make the test taking process easier, Phughes said, “I did things very differently this time. I am a slow test taker and the first time I took them I had to rush at the end and fill in random answers. On Saturday, I spent less time dwelling on questions and was able to put some thought into every question and didn’t feel rushed. This took me a while to figure out, but i have realized that a lot of the SAT is strategy and not purely based on intelligence. So if you can study and get the strategies down, you are set. ”

Some of the student are convinced that the SAT’s are too long for some students and that breaking it up in one-two sections a day instead of all five sections in a four-five hour time frame would make the test less confusing and rushed.

“I felt completely brain dead and I was exhausted. My thoughts when I finished, I didn’t have any. I had a headache and even looking at my phone hurt my head. I thought that five hours for a test is just completely obnoxious and somewhat pointless because I myself am not a good test taker.

Many students take the SAT’s really serious. It motivates them to study.
“Some colleges really prefer certain scores,” said Boucher. That statement shows the pressure that weighs on the students to do well on them in order to get accepted into good colleges. “I was nervous just because this feels like my future is determined all in this one test. It’s just really important to me because I want to look good for colleges,” said Phughes.

A lot of State High juniors were stressed out because the SAT has an immense relevance on their lives. They dedicated effort to do well on the test, in order to get accepted into a good college and take control of their future.