The SAT provided by Klein ISD for juniors is Wednesday, March 4. For many students, their score will determine what colleges they can and can’t get into.

“All the teachers are constantly saying how important this test is to get into college,” junior Lauren Matus said. “Everyone hypes it up like if you do bad, you won’t get into college.”

According to a 2010 study over the prevalence of test anxiety in students, test anxiety was found to affect 10 to 40 percent of students. This can affect how well a student does on standardized tests, putting some students at a disadvantage.

“A lot of times I feel that test anxiety comes from a lack of preparedness,” Opportunity Ambassador sponsor DeAnne Thompson said. “For some people though, it can be almost debilitating, no matter how much they’ve studied.”

To get into a college, SAT scores are one of the main things colleges look at. It’s important that any student planning on going to college do well on the SAT.

“I think the SAT is pretty important,” senior Hannah Philip said. “It’s a good measurement of how well you take tests, which is an important skill for college.”

College board provides free study materials through Khan Academy, but the library also provides SAT practice books anyone can check out for free.

“The school is giving us information about what the tests will be like and giving us tools to help us practice, but I feel they could be offering more for those of us that don’t have time to practice on our own,” Matus said. “I don’t have much time to study for the SAT because I’m so busy studying for all my classes”.

The district offers many different dates that you can retake the test on. If you don’t like your score the first time, you can always retake it. Colleges use superscoring, only looking at each student’s highest score.

“Even if you don’t think you’re where you need to be, just do the best you can,” Philip said. “It doesn’t define who you are, there’s a lot more to you than just that test.”

For the upcoming SAT, the district is allowing students to send their scores to four colleges, free of charge.

“I think the most stressful aspect of the test is how much is riding on it,” Thompson said. “It’s an acknowledgement that your high school years are coming to an end, and it’s all dependent on you.”

The SAT is one of the most important tests a student will ever take, making it also one of the most stressful.