As junior and senior year rapidly approaches, anxiety is setting in. College applications loom overhead, and high school students restlessly await their SAT test date while questioning whether or not they studied hard enough.

Many students are misled into thinking that if they do well on the SAT, they will instantly have a leg-up in the college admissions process.

Although this test is an important factor in the college admissions process, there are so many more parts to the application: GPA, letters of recommendation, interviews, extracurricular activities, personal essays, and academic transcripts, to name a few.

And although the SAT has been an acclaimed method of academic potential since 1926, people (and colleges) are increasingly questioning its credibility.

Is the SAT really an intelligence test? Is it reflective of how smart you are as a person? While it may mean that someone with a higher SAT score is more “academically minded” than you are, this does not mean that you are not as intelligent. For example, you might be a bad test taker, maybe you didn’t prepare as much as others, or perhaps it just wasn’t your day.

Take it from a T3 student I spoke to: “If you want a good score, it’s vital to start practicing months in advance. It’s important to review a lot of the test prep books, especially the ones offered by the College Board. Taking a lot of practice tests in real test taking conditions is also quite helpful.

Ultimately, before the test, don’t get too stressed out and remember that the test score is not the only factor in the college application.”

     So while it’s important to do your best on the SAT, it’s not the end of the world if you do not get the score you wished for. Keep in mind that there are many other factors colleges consider.

      It is also important to note that the college admissions process is actively changing and more colleges are implementing test-optional policies, and are acknowledging that high test scores do not necessarily correspond with college success.