With the start of the new school year, juniors and seniors are made aware of coming standardized tests, some taking them for the first time and others trying to meet college application deadlines.

Many students will be taking the ACT during their high school tenure to send to colleges and, in essence, determine their future, but what is the impact tests like the ACT have on individuals? The weight a single number can hold on a student is a frustrating topic for many.

“The ACT. It’s in all caps and bold, and it just sits there on your shoulders,” said senior Zac Jones.

The test exists to find some sort of standard measure of intellectual ability where other methods, such as transcripts, may not provide the same view. This is because different grading scales are used from state to state and district to district. Many students are unsatisfied with the ACT as an evaluation of their skills.

“You can’t standardize the weather,” said Jones. “You can’t standardize what happened the night before. So, calling it a standardized test really only applies to the material which is sort of in vain. It’s just a window of your intelligence on a specific day within a specific time frame.”

The test itself has value, of course, but it does very little to show the true strengths of a student. Had a student gotten very little sleep the night before or had a lot of stress in general, the test wouldn’t show much of their full ability.

“I feel like your progress over months would be a much better [method of evaluation],” said junior Fiona Conneely.

Not only does the test not show a student’s full ability, but many also think there is a disconnection between the test and the classroom.

“I think a lot of stuff on the ACT doesn’t really connect to class on an explicit level,” said Jones. “I would say that the relationship between a formal education, especially in high school, and the ACT is minimal.”

Students also have varied methods of preparation, from taking classes at school and elsewhere to absolutely nothing at all—oftentimes with good reason.

“I am currently not preparing [for the ACT], and it is one of those things that I shove into the little back jar of my brain and don’t let myself think about, because if I do, then boy howdy, I’m going to have a stress breakdown,” said Conneely.

This reaction seems to be common among students. The test is fairly stressful despite the fact that it doesn’t require a lot of independent knowledge. Some students see the lack of a need for a lot of outside knowledge as a good thing, rightfully so, as most of the stress that comes from the test is due to the weight it carries.

“I find it to be easier to parrot back what I know people want or to analyze literature than to apply concepts,” said senior Sara Gasey.

The ease that some feel with the material of the test still doesn’t change the fact that stress is a huge factor surrounding it. This stress can affect all areas of students’ lives as they have this test nagging at the back of their minds.

“There are other things going on for students, and worrying about the ACT could negatively affect their grades, and they can’t even show they’re smart enough with their grades because they have this other thing going on that is supposed to show how smart they are,” said Jones.

This stress is detrimental to a student, so is the weight placed on standardized testing actually worth it?