October has passed and November is here, which means students are in the middle of the test-taking season. High schoolers across the country will be participating in the SAT and ACT. For those who do not know, the SAT and ACT are arduous exams that can require marathon-like training and can make or break college admissions. Each time the test is taken, the new generation of hardworking students endure grievances, troubles, and sometimes memes about the test.

Every year, the stress level of students around the nation rises as the tests grow near. At what point does the test cross the line between fair and balanced and unnecessarily stressful? Should the College Board take action? According to chargeraccount.org, “The ACT and SAT include material that students may have forgotten, or sometimes, depending on the school, never even learned.”

Senior Valeria Bonomie has some advice for worried students. “Start studying summer of sophomore year, don’t spend a ton of money on a tutor, get practice books from the library, do practice tests once a week, and go over what you missed,” Bonomie said. 

The Washington Post uses the acronym N.U.T.S to describe the SAT. This acronym stands for “Novelty, Unpredictability, Threat to self or ego, Sense of control (or lack of).” Using this acronym, they dissect aspects of the SAT and the negative impact it has on students. If the above factors are playing against students taking the test, then how can it be fair? Judging by the number of articles that come up when you search “is the SAT/ACT too stressful,” it does not appear that this amount of stress and anxiety is happening to a small number of students, but rather, many around the globe.