Everyone knows that junior year is the “worst year” of high school. The year is defined by overwhelming amounts of homework, college visits, and stress over what the future holds. Yet the biggest fear and difficulty of junior year is the standardized test that most students need to take in order to apply to college. These tests, whether they are the ACT or SAT, and their scores seem to have a great effect on students’ future lives. If students do well then they have a better chance to get accepted into their desired college. Yet if their standardized test scores are lower than wanted, it can have a negative effect on their lives.
The scores on these standardized tests have led to many high expectations from teens who are only about 16 to 18 years old. One test, or more if the student decides to take it again, partially defines the future of these students. Yes, good grades and extracurricular activities add to the chance of students getting into college, but the standardized test scores weigh greatly in applications. Recently the amount of students that want to go to college has grown immensely. This has led to colleges becoming more difficult to get into; having higher scores on standardized tests have become even more important. The competition between students for higher standardized test scores has caused more stress to be added to already stress filled lives.
As the want for better scores on standardized tests increases, more and more students now receive tutoring to develop their skills. Although the majority of the time the tutoring does help greatly, oftentimes it hurts students’ grades in school. Because tutors make students focus so much on the standardized tests, assigning multiple homework assignments and sessions a week, many student’s grades drop due to the added work they have to complete. Libby Johnson, an MHS student who did tutoring during the fall of her junior year, said, “I had so much SAT work that I was neglecting my school work and my grades reflected it.” Like Libby, many students work so hard to get a “good” or “acceptable” score that it distracts them from what was initially the most important for college, grades in school. This means that trying to better your chances getting into college by receiving tutoring for tests simultaneously worsens your chances as your grade lowers as a result.