As teenagers grow up, the pressure to achieve academic success and attend a prestigious college increases each day. Students begin to be defined by numbers – in particular, their ACT score. While many people across the country take the SAT, most high schoolers in Illinois take the ACT instead – it is even required for juniors to take it at WY and many other high schools. The absurd idea permeating society is that a person’s ACT score determines his/her intelligence. Not only should test scores not define someone – but the ACT in particular does not accurately measure their intelligence.

Standardized testing in general is a poor way of evaluating a student. In this case, their entire knowledge base is broken down into four categories – English, reading, math and science – that hardly begin to cover the scope of topics in which certain people may excel.

The pressure continues to mount as the ACT approaches. “I was beyond terrified when I took it,” said Renata Dagley ‘17. People’s brains do not function the same when they are under such significant amounts of stress; it is no wonder that their scores often suffer because of this.

“Behind everything we do at ACT is a passion for making things better. In fact, that’s how ACT started,” claims Marten Roorda, CEO of ACT. Yet the test is met with disdain from all types of students.

Unfortunately, it was created in a way that requires little background knowledge other than how to take a standardized test. “It is an inadequate representation of a student as a single number and it favors those who have the resources to produce good scores,” explained Quincy Hirt ‘17.

Students who are lucky enough to afford practice and tutoring typically use it. It can drastically improve scores, mainly through test taking strategies specific to the ACT. These tips and tricks are taught by people who know the format of the exam inside and out. However insightful they may be, they come at a large cost, and it’s not fair to those who don’t have the proper funds.

“I do despise the ACT, but at least it’s better than the SAT,” expressed Matthew Eady ‘16. It may not be the worst test in the world, but a test with so much power over young students should be held to higher standards.

There are people with some of the smartest, most brilliant minds who received poor ACT scores and are therefore deemed intellectually inferior. This is not the way society should view young students, nor is it the way colleges should determine applicants’ worth.