ELAINE GU
Gargoyle assistant editor
Posted Tuesday, April 29, 2008

AS WE RUSH into the month of May, we find ourselves among a national testing craze. APs are right around the corner, the impending final exams are looming in the shadows, and the dreaded SAT exam is going down this Saturday.

All around me, people are discussing SAT and ACT scores. Even Monday night’s episode of “Gossip Girl” was about the SAT (who said that show wasn’t educational?).

Even though it is the glorious final month of school, many of my classmates have feared the arrival of May. Somehow, the topic of every conversation tends to drift toward standardized testing … or about prom.

This is a particular stressful time for juniors. For those of us who wish to apply for early admission in the fall, we’re trying to get all of our standardized testing out of the way.

On top of that, there’s the stress of APs and SAT IIs. Since Uni’s curriculum isn’t completely based on the material covered on these tests, we have to devote extra time to study for them while we try to keep up with history IDs and an hour-and-a-half of calc homework every night.

I’ve never been one to spend all my free time studying for standardized tests. I don’t believe that standardized tests are in any way an accurate measure of a person’s intelligence or knowledge. I know students who do really well in school but score very low on standardized tests. At the same time, there are those who don’t try at all in school yet have surprisingly high SAT and ACT scores.

Therefore I also don’t believe in killing myself with stress and lack of sleep just so I can get a 2400 on my SAT. The material covered on the SAT and ACT is not difficult; it’s simply a matter of solving numerous problems in a very limited amount of time. Why spend thousands of dollars on SAT and ACT prep classes when all you have to do is solve problems efficiently?

However, despite my contempt for this whole obsession with standardized testing, I feel that lately I’ve been sucked into this craze. I’ve gotten respectable scores on both the SAT and ACT, but they’re nowhere near perfect. So this past weekend, I decided to give studying a try.

I checked out from the library an SAT prep book boasting of eight full-length practice tests. Sunday evening, halfway through the second practice SAT exam of my life, I came to a revelation: I actually kind of enjoy taking standardized tests!

If you think about it, standardized tests are actually kind of fun. Granted, they’re tests, so they can’t be that much fun, but compared to tests we take at school in which we actually have to understand and memorize material, standardized tests are so much easier. Plus, I’ve always enjoyed filling in little bubbles.

So maybe we all need to develop a new outlook and stop fearing standardized tests. Back in elementary school when we took statewide assessment tests, students always enjoyed them because they liked coloring in bubbles. Maybe that’s the attitude that we need to adopt when taking the SAT and ACT.

I understand the importance of these tests, so I am by no means saying that you shouldn’t take them seriously. However, test scores are not everything.

So if you’re taking the SAT this weekend, approach it with a different attitude. Don’t be memorizing vocabulary words or math equations hours before your test. Who knows? Your relaxed state of mind might just help you score better.

Note: An earlier version of this column appeared as an entry in the Gargoyle staff blog.