Having taken this exam, along with the ACT, I don’t believe this exam can accurately reflect a student’s potential in the real world, as these exams only focus on a narrow slice of a student’s ability. They may cover very important topics, but they dont take into account what other talents a particular student has. For instance, some students are better than others at test taking. I have witnessed fellow students memorizing paragraphs without understanding what they are reciting, while others are better at thinking critically, thinking and understanding as they develop an answer.

Over the past few years I have developed an organized method to complete my academic and athletic responsibilities. As an athlete, I have to have good time management skills, which I have to apply throughout the week, balancing my schoolwork along with my athletic responsibilities. For example, during my junior year, I was playing on a team further away from where I live, where I had to attend practices almost 3 hours away once a week, and this was the time I would catch up on schoolwork and study for exams, as the other three to four days I would practice with my local team.

Adding a broad test to study may be difficult for some students to manage. Just as I focus my time into my sport, and others in other extracurricular activities, many students put their main focus and efforts onto this particular test. For me, the most difficult part of this test is time. I have a great understanding of the material, which, when taking practice tests, if I was given 10 or 15 more minutes I would be able to achieve a near perfect score. I know that it isn’t possible for an exam to take forever, but I don’t have a full understanding as to the way it is currently structured. Does it really matter if I solve a problem in 1 minute or 30 seconds? I don’t believe that many students can perform their best under the conditions that are given during the test.

The way the test is structured may only benefit some types of students, but there should be a more accurate way to test kids on their abilities. Therefore, I don’t believe this test mimics real world conditions, and isn’t a precise representation of our real potential. This exam shouldn’t be used to limit a student’s potential, but instead should help them when attempting to further pursue their career.