This Is How Many Tests You Took Before College

You might have looked back onto high school with distain long before you learned how many tests students take before college, but I promise the number will not help get you into a better mood. As it turns out, an average student will be taking 112.3 tests before they even see their first beer pong table at a college party. That's a major bummer.

I tend to forget about the misery of high school test prep due to my STSD (Standardized Test Stress Disorder). I am a HORRIBLE test taker. I don't like pressure and I hated seeing people around me scribble at a pace I did not match. Every mention of PSAT and SAT would send me into a head spin. I mean, can you really blame me for not being a fan of a six hour exam that basically determines if you have a future of not? I think as a country we really need to look at the education system through an individual lens rather than a one-size-fits-all one. Teachers are forced to teach to the test instead of inspiring within the classroom. Public schools are threatened with budget cuts because their students cannot preform on the same level as other school, and this is done without the understanding of the social and economical background of the student body.

What gets me every time is that standardized tests are meant to show how well you will do in college —under the false pretense that what you are tested on will be relevant once admitted. I can tell you that I have not done long division, trigonometry, or physics ONCE since graduating high school. Is this true for everyone? No, of course not. But I think it goes to show you that most of what we are being tested on is either repeated in classes during college or not useful at all.

I racked my brain and came up with these standardized tests that I've taken before I stepped foot in college. Just thinking about them causes me to hyperventilate.

1. NYSTP (3rd - 8th Grade)

This started as an English and math exam, then added social studies and science. The only eventful part of the exam was when the bathrooms flooded in 6th grade and a girl named Rebecca ran out screaming, in order to alert the teachers.

2. SHSAT (8th Grade)

The Specialized High School Admissions Test was the SAT for high school. If you wanted to attend some of the best schools in NYC, you wanted to score high. Kids were enrolled in prep courses as early as 6th grade and depending on their scores they could be admitted to high schools like Stuyvesant and Bronx Science. This test sucked.

3. PSAT (9th - 11th Grade)

I have no clue what this test was really for. I guess to prep you for the SAT's which I didn't take. This test made me hate school and every person that bragged about their scores.

4. NY Regents

This test was always the worst. It was a standardized test at the end of the year that you were required to pass in order to go to the next grade of high school. There was one in every subject you took. UGHHHHHHHH.

5. SAT/ACT

These were the big ones. The ones kids had panic dreams over. I never took the SAT, but I did take the ACT because they were required. Trust me, I would have taken none if it had been an option.

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