There are many factors that go into the process of college acceptance, and although test scores are always the determining factor, they are used to give colleges an idea of whether or not students are ready for college-level work.

“I know everyone says this, but the night before your test, go to sleep early, don’t let anxiety ruin your sleep, don’t do what I did and get up the next morning, walk to the test center, and forget your calculator and have to go back and get it and be late,” senior, and recipient of a perfect ACT score, Regina Yan said. “Have a good breakfast, I had eggo waffles and I recommend them.”

In order to be successful, you just need to plan, prepare and relax.

The majority of students plan on taking either the ACT or SAT during their high school career. ACTs and SATs are typically taken during students’ junior and senior years of high school. However, students who want to do well begin preparing earlier on.

“[Students should start preparing] sophomore year. Prepare by taking the ACT Plan and signing up for the PSAT. By doing this, you get a good baseline of scores so that when you’re a junior you know what to work on,” gifted teacher Stan Stern said.

Shawnee Mission students’ ACT scores for this year in all subject areas have increased from last year.

“I’m not naturally a strong test taker so I practiced with Princeton Review Books and worked on my timing,” Yan said, “It wasn’t something I stressed over or worried about, but I did want to do my best.”

A common controversy with standardized tests is how important they really should be to colleges and how well they really depict a student’s knowledge.

“As good as standardized tests are for colleges to assess a student’s knowledge, I don’t think they adequately measure a student’s ability, because never in life will I need to know how to read a multivariable science graph and find the charge of electrons,” Yan said. “They don’t really show you what a student is actually like, and I don’t think numbers show you what a student’s personality or potential really are.”

Junior Leah Thomas would agree that standardized tests should have less importance in the college acceptance process.

“Some people may be really smart but just not be good in that setting. You can’t really judge how smart someone is by how they do on a test,” Thomas said. “There are so many other factors that go into a person besides how they do on a test and I think those should be considered.”

Test scores are used to evaluate students by applying a common standard. This helps compare students who went to different schools that offered different programs, environments, and expectations.

“I feel like they should have more impact [on college acceptance], because if these standardized tests are showing how smart someone is and how hard someone works then they should be more important,” sophomore Kenny Chan said.

The SAT and ACT are both structured differently, and students are faced with the decision of which to take.

“They are going to be changing next year so Im kinda waiting to see what those changes are. From what I can see the SAT is going to look more like the ACT,” Stern said. “Right now I would take the ACT Plan and the PSAT and get an idea about which of those fits your strengths.”

There are many factors that go into the process of college acceptance, and although test scores are always the determining factor, they are used to give colleges an idea of whether or not students are ready for college-level work.

“I know everyone says this, but the night before your test go to sleep early, don’t let anxiety ruin your sleep, don’t do what I did and get up the next morning, walk to the test center, and forget your calculator and have to go back and get it and be late,” Yan said. “Have a good breakfast, I had eggo waffles and I recommend them.”

In order to be successful you just need to plan, prepare and relax.