Washington Township Prepares for the Big Tests

1studentnwi-washtingtontwp-actsatCheyenne Cook is ValpoLife.com's #1StudentNWI representative at Washington Township High School. This month, Cheyenne discusses the ways Washington Township helps prepare students for college placement tests like the SAT and ACT.

Everyone deals with the stress of figuring out where you want to go in life. As a high school student at Washington Township, I, along with other Senators, have recently made the decisions on where I hope to go to College. But in order to even apply for colleges, first comes the SAT and ACT.

Within the last three weeks, I have taken both my SAT and my ACT in hopes to get into the college I plan on attending. I am now looking forward to applying to college, which has been a long time coming. I've spent the last three years preparing for these moments.

Washington Township has done a great job helping students prepare for these tests as much as possible.

Sophomores take their PSAT right around this time as well. The PSAT is a pre-test that gives you a great idea of how the SAT works. Washington also provides juniors with the option of retaking the PSAT if they feel that they need to better prepare themselves for taking the SAT.

I took the PSAT both years, but held off taking my SAT and ACT until this year. The counselor, Mrs. Symer, did a great job meeting with myself and other students. Within the first month of school she met with every senior student, making sure they were prepared to take the SAT or ACT if they needed. She provided us with practice books to help prepare. Those preparation books gave great examples as to what students would see on the test. Many teachers also took time in the classroom to concentrate on specific ideas that would be on the tests. English teachers prepared us by teaching new vocabulary; along with the daily "word of the day" heard on the announcements every morning. Math teachers also helped students with the more difficult math problems we were afraid to face come test day.

Allie McCafferty, a senior, said that the SAT was "very long, but it wasn't nearly as bad as people make them out to be. I had a SAT prep book and I took the PSAT twice to prepare."

Many other students said that they had spent so much time studying, that once they took the test, it seemed so much easier than they anticipated.

Heather Burton, also a Senior Senator, stated that "The ACT was so much different from the SAT. I feel like I didn't have nearly as much time to answer my questions. Overall it wasn't too bad."

After speaking with a variety of students, everyone seemed to have a different experience. Amber Tolson and Alex Lowther shared that a girl in their testing room was so nervous, she threw-up! "I felt so bad for the girl" said Amber, "she was decked out in IU gear. She looked that she was totally ready for college. Good thing she felt much better afterwards and seemed to do a lot better!"

The extreme importance for these tests sure can put a lot of pressure on students. Washington Township is a great school with fantastic leaders who have taken their time to help us prepare for our future. With this awesome environment, studying for the SAT, or ACT, or PSAT, is a lot less stressful, which is another reason why I am proud to be a Senator!