I'm not a test score.

I was walking in a parking lot several days ago when I spotted this really run down car, with loads of bumper stickers on it. I stopped and stared at it, reading almost all of them. I noticed one that said, "My child is not a test score". And on the spot, I completely agreed with this guy.

 I'm not a test score. Test scores do not represent who I am and they shouldn't represent others.

 But that's when I started thinking.

 When I was in high school, I was forced to take the new SAT. It was longer, there was an essay, and it was just more unbearable. I hated it. I took it three times. If you know me, you know that the worst part for me is the Reading Comprehension section. I never have time to read the passages and fully grasp some of the concepts behind them. I always end up reading the questions and then scanning the passage for the answers. I've heard that that's what that section is meant to do, but I'm not really sure.

 The writing section I thought was pretty easy. I can normally tell when a sentence sounds odd but I don't speak or write with the best grammar (don't judge. hah) The essay topics aren't too difficult and I improved on it every time I took it.

 The math section is my favorite. I love math. I always do the best in it.

 Anyways, overall, my score was not good. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. I did better than a majority of my friends but I felt like the biggest idiot at the same time.

When I was gathering up my college applications and writing essays and doing all that jazz, I thought to myself, "my grades don't reflect who I am as a person, and this SAT score DEFINITELY doesn't." I only applied to three schools, and I got into all three. Two of them had essays I had to do. At the time the essays were so annoying, and I was just lazy and put them off until the last minute. But the essays are actually a chance to get to know the applicant on a personal basis and ask them questions that are pretty relevant.

 "Who is your hero?"

"What was the biggest obstacle you had to face and why?"

"Tell us about yourself."

 You can do a lot with those topics to overshadow your SAT score. I know you can. If schools JUST looked at kids' SAT scores, then there are plenty of people who wouldn't get accepted. If the school I currently attend looked at my SAT score and only that, I reallllllllllllly don't think I would've gotten in.

 So yes, I'm not a test score, but I don't think colleges put the most weight on SAT scores.

There was a boy I graduated with who was insanely smart, a genious I swear. He took the new SAT and got a perfect 2400. He took it again because it looks better when you take it more than once, and received the same perfect score. He was not valedictorian only because he chose to take one less AP class than he normally would take. He wanted a break from high school since he had been working his butt off for so long. I don't blame him. My senior class was the most competitive at the time, and they had to round our grades 4 decimal places, and so he really was not far behind the valedictorian at all. He wanted to go to Stanford. He didn't get in. HE DIDN'T GET IN. He played sports in high school, and he was in clubs and did boy scouts I think. But he didn't get into Stanford. You have to be more than average or smart to get into a school. You have to be a well-rounded individual who the university feels has potential in their programs.

He's at Princeton though.

I mean, I'm speaking from experience and overall, I have to say, I agree that I'm not a test score, but schools don't only look at that number.

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