On Oct. 30 Tracy High offered the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) to its seniors, which has not been offered at THS since colleges stopped requiring scores three years ago.
According to Counselor Jonathan Sanny who has worked at Tracy High for four years, this decision came after the district’s notice to offer the standardized test. A little over one month ago, the district contacted Tracy High to inform them that they needed to offer the SAT before the end of the year, especially as college application deadlines approached.
“It was really frustrating that it was offered so late and we didn’t have any planning on it,” Sanny admitted. “But if our district told us we had to offer it we had to hit the ground on it quick.”
According to Sanny, the District decided that the SAT should be offered after students found a lack of testing sites offered.
“They saw that in the past we’ve had some students from our district traveling to other locations to take the SAT,” Sanny said. “There wasn’t a lot of students doing this, but it was a handful of them.”
Dhir Patel, senior IB diploma candidate, traveled to Sparks, Nev. to take the SAT. Patel started looking for testing centers near the end of his junior year and took the test twice in Sparks, in May and August respectively.
“I didn’t expect to go all the way to Nev. I had to do what I had to do in order to take the SAT,” Patel claimed. “They [Patel’s parents] really wanted me to take the SAT and it was any means possible at that point.”
Another senior and cross-country athlete, Ianna Diaz, claimed she had to drive one and a half hours to reach her testing center.
“I registered pretty early, I should’ve registered a little bit earlier,” Diaz admitted. “I didn’t know that it filled up that quickly, especially after spring.”
Diaz believes Tracy High offering the standardized test to Tracy High seniors would be beneficial.
When Sanny was asked about the SAT’s relevance to college applications today, it came down to the student’s personal choice.
“More students are wanting to go to college after high school than ever before,” Sanny explained
When Sanny graduated high school in 2010, it was different.
“It didn’t feel that way. I knew if I wanted to work with students, I knew I had to get some kind of education,” Sanny explained. “The college application process is a lot more competitive, especially now that the SATs and the ACTs aren’t required.”
During this time of the year, many seniors begin stressing about their applications.
“Stress is a good thing because it shows that you care… but don’t let it consume you,” Sanny advised. “Letting it consume you makes you sick physically, mentally and personally I don’t think anything’s worth being that stressed over, look at the big picture.”
Sanny and Counselor Trip Manley collaborated to organize the event for Oct. 30.
