Every year, high school students all across Michigan prepare to take the dreaded SAT. For many, it is the most intense test they will endure in their high school career.

In the state of Michigan, the SAT is a graduation requirement for high school. Many colleges use the scores to help determine their acceptance decisions during the application process. 

Recently, MLive published an article that shows the state average SAT score is currently at 959.9, but Kalamazoo Public School students fall short of this with an average score of 945.4. 

The district average does not reflect everyone, there are many students who had exceptional scores. 

Seniors Sophie Grover and Guthrie Harris are two examples of students that far exceeded the district average. 

Although Harris is proud of her score, she wanted to acknowledge that her access to SAT prep materials helped her. 

 “I think the culture and history surrounding the SAT clearly demonstrate that it favors those with resources and privilege,” said Harris.

The importance of the SAT to an individual depends on personal goals. There is not a minimum score required for graduation, so students who are taking the SAT with no intention of using it on future applications don’t have as much of an incentive to study. 

However, there are some students who plan on attending colleges with lower acceptance rates typically need a certain SAT score to be considered or other extracurricular’s that would interest the school. 

Some people disagree with using the SAT as a factor in the application process.

 “I feel like basing acceptance on test scores isn’t a good idea because it’s not very reflective of the student,” Grover said. 

Grover’s opinion is not uncommon, other students feel that standardized testing is a burden that doesn’t give a full picture of students abilities.

“Though it can be easier to assign a number value to students’ competency/achievement, it fails to account for the unique qualities that really make a student valuable,” said Harris.

The SAT has a lot of negative stigma surrounding it because of the anxiety it produces for some students.

“I think I would say try not to worry about it. The more you stress about it, the more test anxiety you’re going to have,” Grover said. 

Harris used a more practice oriented approach.  

“Investing in a book of practice questions or even private SAT prep classes can be super helpful,” said Harris. 

Although Grover did not study for the SAT in her free time, Grover said Ms. English’s English class helped set her up for success.  

“Ms. English’s class definitely helped my essay score because she does reviews with you,” Grover said. 

“AP Lang with Ms. English was very helpful for SAT prep,” Harris said,  “It ends up being just as much dependent on knowing the test and how to strategize as on academic knowledge.”