Written by Najiah Alkahalah
The most dreading thought of my year is thinking about the PSAT/SAT. Every time it crosses my mind I spiral into stress and anxiety. But does it really matter? What will happen if I just guess and rush through it? What will happen if I don’t take it at all? Well after interviewing many students and teachers I was able to reach a proper conclusion.
After gathering opinions from teachers and students, I realized how different age groups perceive standardized testing. Here are some opinions I gathered:
Ayesha Nadeem, a junior at Central Academy, said she feels that standardized testing is an inaccurate way to test students. Colleges mainly look at test scores before anything else, which isn’t fair because it can’t correctly measure a student's intelligence. Some students could have good work ethics and be intelligent but aren't good at taking tests.
Hasan Noor, a sophomore at Central, says we should take it because it represents students' test-taking ability and gives a baseline for colleges to follow.
Amelia Burgess, a freshman at Central, said she thinks it is an inaccurate evaluation of students' knowledge. She mentioned how some kids know the material but get test anxiety and can't perform to the best of their abilities.
Overall most people thought it wasn’t the most effective way to assess a student's knowledge, and while they are correct that doesn’t mean the test is useless. Being able to work and think on a time crunch is highly important for your future. You are going to have to work on deadlines and be able to quickly solve and assess problems. The PSAT also somewhat assesses how good you are at specific skills. So even though we all dread taking the PSAT we should remember that it is an important test and should be taken seriously.