ACT and SAT

            I just wanted to say that I am almost 100% against the ACT and SAT for many reasons. First I want anyone reading this post to know that I am NOT going on a rant because I did bad on the tests... I have not taken either one of them yet. I have opposed these two tests for quite some time now, actually. Here's why: one, the tests are made to trick you. Two, they do an extremely poor job in measuring who is intelligent and who is not as intelligent. Three, the restricted time and length is a little too unnecessary, and four, colleges rely to heavily upon these tests.

Explanations
One: It is a fact that the tests are made to trick you because it is stated at the beginning of all the ACT/SAT practice tests. In my opinion, why would it ever be a good idea to intentionally try and trick a student on a test? One that the student has never seen before, too?! I also don't understand why there are multiple right answers, but the student taking it is marked WRONG if they do not put the one the test makers put as the ultimate correct answer. So what the ACT/SAT is saying, is that a student will be punished for thinking on their own terms even if their reasoning is correct? Doesn't the IB Programme contradict this method of testing and oppose it?

Two: From point one, the scores on the tests do an extremely poor job of measuring who is intelligent and not intelligent. I personally know kids who do terrible in school, but get relatively high scores on their ACT, and vise versa. Even in booklets, the authors write that the test is faulty because you may be very intelligent, but a bad test taker, sick the day you take it, nervous, and therefore do bad, or run out of time which harms your score. It's a fluke to me.

Three: I'm all for having a time limit and broad number of questions to support that the student does or does not know what they are doing, but the really short time limit compared to the number of questions is a little ridiculous. I don't see why making kids rush as fast as they can to finish a test without reading it thoroughly is a good indication of their intelligence. Why not cut down the test so kids can decipher the questions and do better on the tests? Maybe that's too much to ask for...

Four: With all this frustration to how unreasonable these tests are, it is even more frustrating to know that colleges heavily rely on a students ACT/SAT scores to choose the right students to be accepted into their college. I would support these two tests much more if colleges looked at a students rating, class schedule, and overall academic performance before they looked at the ACT scores. It doesn't make sense, yet again, that one test is a better indication of a students intelligence and academic performance than their high school transcript.

As you can tell, I am against these tests (which are different than the OGTs - OGT is more reasonable and wants you to pass; although easy) and hope that someone will change it to better indicate someone's intelligence. In the mean time, I have to suck it up, study, and hope I don't get sick on test day.