Don’t Fear Your Test Scores

Throughout June, shouts and cheers signal the part of the year most students look forward to: summer break. Ideal summers include visiting the beach, attending a concert, or discovering new cities by road or airplane. However, stress and sleep deprivation will not go away during break. The horror of standardized testing will poke at students until they find out the results and realize the consequences.

June and July might as well be renamed “Doomed Months for High School Students.” Scores from the June ACT have recently been released, scores from the June SAT tests were made available online on June 25, and scores from the AP tests many high school students took this past May will be released in the first and second weeks of July.

The worst part seems to be the waiting and anticipation.

“The suspense has been killing me. I just need to know how I did right now!” said Claire Lee, a senior at West Ranch High School.

Stuck in the middle of the two-month break, the release of scores will either make or break students. On one side of the scale, students will shout out of joy while on the other, students may be filled with regret and sorrow.

“I was pretty happy with my scores. But I felt super bad for some of my other friends who did not do too well, ” said Candace Ro, a rising senior at West Ranch High School.

The fact that almost all of the main test scores come out toward the end of June seems cruel. Students should be out enjoying and living out their ideal summer plans; instead, they are hit with the reality of their test scores, regardless of how poor or excellent the scores are.

Even so, this time period is actually critical for students and their decisions for the future. Because of that one test score, a student might not qualify for a program at a prospective college and whole future plan could be jeopardized.

However, instead of moping around after not receiving the greatest test scores, students should still take the time to read the full report and analyze what must be done to improve.

Students tend to not think about the exams for a while. Time passes so quickly and the time to face the results comes faster than students would think. Regardless, no matter what scores remain on their transcripts, students should stay positive and not be scared to make that one mouse-click.