One of the many ways that high school students spend their nights is studying or completing homework. Classes, especially honors and AP classes, are demanding and are a huge time commitment. Aside from social activity, extracurriculars and free time, teenagers of the 21st century have a busy schedule involving school. Some things that students study for are quizzes, tests and and worst of all, standardized tests that include AZMerit, PSAT, SAT and ACT.

In order to be seriously considered by competitive colleges and universities, students must take and do well on these tests. But with all the pressure put on students, it doesn’t seem fair that students are judged by their performance on a single test on a single day. Not everybody is able to wake up early after a night of no sleep, eat breakfast and then do an outstanding job on a long standardized test.

There is a myriad of things that can affect a student’s performance on a standardized test. Lack of sleep, lack of nutrition or lack of preparation are all things that can decide a student’s grade on a test. Also, some students do better under pressure than others. Every student takes tests differently, and yet all students are expected to take standardized tests the same way and do well.

One of the main things that college look for is standardized testing scores. But not everyone’s true potential is reflected on their SAT scores.

Instead of one standardized test decided a student’s college and future, there should be an alternative way for a college to see how much a student can truly do.