SATs were never my friend. They are long and leave you with a massive headache that has its own name, "The SAT headache." Students are found walking away from the room disappointed, confused, and most of all, frustrated. All the hours put into preparation and when it comes time to take the test, and still, nothing seems familiar. I don’t blame students who do not want to take the test, but to cheat your way out of it is not the answer.
The comment made by high school principal Bernard Kaplan seemed very familiar to me. When he was in school, he was used to taking just one Advanced Placement course. Now with the increased education demand, students pound themselves thinking they have to overload themselves with difficult courses, raising the AP number to about 5 or 6. In time, this overload will take over a student’s brain thinking there is no way out. Jammed with multiple strenuous tests in one day will cancel out the good of the AP courses. Instead, these courses will create a desire to cheat. Failing is the last thing a student who is enrolled in these courses want. Therefore, cheating seems to be the only way out.
In a high school setting, teenagers tend to spend their time harping on what other people think of them. Students will get to the point where they will do anything to impress the football jock in their lunch or the beauty queen in their math class. So it is not surprising when I read about the opportunity one kid was given by the “popular kid” at school. This smart student who was troubled at the time due to his parents’ divorce, eagerly jumped at the opportunity to take money from the “popular kid” and in exchange, take the SAT for him. High school is all about what people think. Pressure like this situation is likely and is not at all surprising.
Trying to crack the code on SAT impersonations is one tough case. An argument I have to put my foot down on is using the comparison of GPA and SAT scores to see if they are similar. I am a 4-time SAT taker who has not once been happy with my scores. However, if you look at the work I have completed in high school, all the hard work seems to pay off there considering I have a 3.86 GPA. So why does that not carry over to the SATs? It is because they are two totally different elements. The knowledge needed for the SAT is not something you obtain from going to high school day to day. The material on the SAT is selected at random and not something a student can prepare for. When in a high school setting, a student is taught the material and then goes home to study what is in that section to be able to succeed on the upcoming test.
The SATs are a challenge beyond no other, and nothing can stand up to compare to it. However, cheating is nowhere close to the answer to overcoming the beast.
