As a high school student, tests remain inevitable and weigh heavily on our course grades and grade point average (GPA), but they also determine our college acceptance.

“The SAT and ACT add unnecessary stress to not only the college application process itself but high school in general. Starting as a sophomore, you have to think about whether you are going to take the SAT or ACT, how many times you are going to take it, and all of that just adds so much stress,” senior Victoria Wright said.

Most colleges require the SAT and/or the ACT. While college admission officers require these scores to measure a prospective student’s suitability, the scores sometimes fail to accurately depict the student.

Throughout high school, students work daily to improve their grades in each course. From mathematics to literature, we try to balance each class and maintain exemplary GPAs. This academic weight displays the student’s work ethic and application in each course. GPAs should mean more to colleges than the SAT/ACT. Yet, many colleges still use these as major influences to decide whether or not a student proves suitable to attend.

In a study, Bates College’s former Dean of Admissions William Hiss compared students who submitted their standardized test scores against those who did not: “The evidence of the study clearly shows that high school GPA matters. Four-year, long term evidence of self-discipline, intellectual curiosity and hard work; that’s what matters the most,” Hiss reported.

Reviewing test scores standardizes basic requirements; however, standardized tests prove inefficient for measuring intelligence. They only measure a person’s test-taking skills, and in the future, a job will not involve taking tests. GPA matters more than standardized test results.

“I don’t personally like the SAT or ACT because I didn’t do as well as I thought I should have on them, but I can understand why colleges administer them and require that future students take them. They need something to judge students off of, like a level plane,” Caleb Bacak said.

The SAT and ACT adds a large amount of stress to a teenager’s life. Junior year revolves around stressing about college and our future. The addition of standardized tests create unnecessary stress. If colleges relied less on test scores, student life would become much easier. Instead of spending enormous amounts of time studying ACT/SAT material, students could actually focus on their class work and save their GPAs.

Future graduates strive to reach their dreams, but with tests determining which colleges they can and cannot attend, they may never get there.