Give me my summer back

Poolside lounging, beach towels, summer sun — things that every student should be able to enjoy are being replaced with SAT classes and SAT prep books. Summer slowly seems to be mirroring the school year for students competing to be the best of the best. 

My summer had always been a time for camp memories to be made and some time to breathe from dreaded schoolwork. This had been the case up until the summer of my junior year: the big year. It was the year we all heard the horrid things about simultaneously preparing for APs, SATs, ACTs, while also balancing extracurricular activities. But the summer was a safe haven away from such academic intensity. At least, that’s what I thought until I started my SAT class. 

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. — about the same number of hours I’d spend in school  — I was in yet another classroom preparing for the College Board’s infamous SAT. Not as rigorous as school, the class still contained an element of pressure: this was our preparation to do well on one of the “key” indicators to our college success. 

Three sections of the SAT critical reading and writing combined with three sections of the SAT math transformed stress free summers into stress filled summers—all this preparation for one test. 

So, what does the SAT exactly indicate? Is it truly a student’s ability to be succeed in college? Or does it indicate a student’s affluence and state of mind during the test?

 The SAT testing culture allows for the College Board, and prep courses, to make a whole lot of money. The price of actually signing up for the SAT is $52.50, though fee waivers are offered to those students who cannot afford this. Then there’s the price for the College Board SAT practice book, $21.20, which only gives you a limited number of practice tests. Add the price of classes that can cost thousands of dollars and you’ll wonder if all the time and money is worth it. 

A simple fact remains true: not everyone has that type of money and those who do have the money clearly have an advantage. Take a student who has spent 150 hours with a tutor who costs $200 an hour and another student who has spent the time only working on their College Board SAT book. Odds are the former will do better.

 Students spend hours upon hours studying for a four-hour test that may determine where they go to college. I’ve been very grateful for my opportunity to take my SAT classes, but I know very well that it’s unfair to those who don’t have the same opportunities. 

On top of economic factors, there are also many other situational factors that may bring down your College Board score. Your actual ability might be skewed because of a recent breakup or a death in the family. Such events can account for a surprising score — with teenagers hormones and brain development, changing events can have a major impact on teenagers. 

Joo Hee Park, a rising senior, told me that even though you might know the test really well, your score might not reflect this because “it just wasn’t your day.”

 Students do have other chances to improve their scores, but sometimes life gets in the way of those perfect numbers you’d rather see. The SAT is a burden for all students. Summers are filled with SAT preparation and high costs. Thoughts of just being a teenager and hanging out with friends have now been replaced with the pressure and stress of college.   

M

oney and timing both play a huge part into our so-called “success” on the SAT. Luckily, colleges are now starting to agree that the SAT isn’t really a true indicator of a student’s success. More than 800 colleges are now test-optional (for a complete list, go to www.fairtest.org). Hopefully in the near future that list won’t even have to exist anymore — making all colleges test-optional. 

Summers should not be spent tirelessly working to obtain that perfect 2400 on the SAT. Teenagers should be focusing on themselves and not attaching themselves to a “defining” score. We have entire school years spent trying to prove our worth. Our time spent during the summer should be on discovering ourselves, volunteer work, or just summer fun, not spent on preparing for some test. 

Allisen Lichtenstein, a rising senior at Great Neck South High School, was a summer intern for The Press. Point of view is a column open to all.