Sarah Kim
The SAT school day took place at Central on Wednesday, April 13th. Seniors had the day off from school, while everyone else took either the PSAT or the SAT, with the essay portion included. These tests serve as a benchmark for the state of Illinois to evaluate how high school students are doing academically. To prepare for the SATs, there needed to be “a lot of coordination regarding spaces, who’s taking what test, student combinations… a lot of behind-the-scenes things,” said Mr. Cooper, the associate principal at Central. Thankfully, there were no big mishaps on the day.
The PSAT 8/9, which was taken by Freshmen, lasted around 2 hours and 30 minutes, while the PSAT 10, for Sophomores, took around 3 hours. The SAT with the essay portion took the longest, with most testing rooms ending at or after 1 pm. For Juniors, the SAT is required to graduate. Any Juniors who missed the SAT school day will take it on Tuesday, April 26th at 7:40 am. If they don’t take it then, they will have to take it as a Senior.
After the SAT, many students felt relieved that it was over, but were also worried about their scores. “I felt unconfident,” Junior Shayna Singh stated about the multiple choice questions. She continued that she felt more confident in her essay, but didn’t think it mattered as much as the multiple choice, since many colleges don’t accept essay scores anymore.
Sophomore Eunice Kim commented, “I felt really tired afterwards and it pains me to even think about it.”
SAT scores are set to be released on May 4th. If you chose to send up to 4 free score score reports to colleges or scholarships, those scores will be sent out on May 14th.
Most people know the SAT as an important part of college admissions. A good SAT score can enhance a strong college application, and it can also be used to apply to certain scholarships. It’s important to remember, though, that a good SAT score is not everything, even if it seems like it is now, and that there are always more chances to retake it.