I do not believe that the SAT reflects my real potential. For many years universities have used the SAT to determine whether or not a student should be accepted into their university. It is supposed to measure a student’s math, reading, and writing skills. Now colleges are starting to go test-optional because they think the SAT does not reflect students’ true potential. In my own experience, the stress it puts on students, and the fact that it doesn’t show the full picture are all factors that show the SAT does not reflect your real potential.

Throughout high school, I have earned a 4.0 grade point average, and have received high marks on the several college-level courses that I have taken. The SAT is only a snapshot of my test-taking abilities at that moment. What if a student takes the test having a bad day or when they are sick and are not able to show their full potential? Also, some students are bad or anxious test takers. I know that I am a bad test taker. When I sat down to take the SAT I was so stressed with the time limit and all the material I had to understand at that moment. On every section of the test, I ran out of time and was not able to answer at least three of the questions. Even though I ended up not doing very well on the SAT I still applied to the University of Michigan College of Engineering test-optional. I ended up getting in and am going in the fall. I didn’t even have to submit my SAT and they still accepted me into the highly competitive college.

Another thing about the SAT is that some colleges put a lot of emphasis on having a good score. This puts a lot of stress on students to get a good score so they can get into the college of their choice. If a student were to get a bad score it could destroy their confidence and make them think that they are not college material. This is one of the reasons colleges are going test-optional. They are realizing that a single test in one period of time does not define a student’s ability or potential.

On the other hand, students could be really good test takers and get a high score on the SAT but have a low GPA. An SAT score doesn’t fully show a student’s real potential. There can be instances in school when students don’t turn in their work or don’t get high grades on assignments. Also, some students are just naturally good test takers and get high SAT scores but don’t put in the effort during class. Colleges would not accept any types of students like this so it could give students false hope that they can get into any school with a high SAT.

In conclusion, SAT scores should not be as important as they are now. I believe that my own experience, the stress it puts on students, and the fact that it doesn’t show universities the full picture shows that SAT scores do not show a student’s full potential. In the future, I hope more and more universities decide to go test-optional and find other ways to have students reflect on their potential.