The Ups and Downs of Flying to the States for the SAT

Everybody knows that the SAT is an important part of the college application process and that AISG hosts it four times a year. This gives AISG students a cornucopia of advantages over local school students, such as the expenses and time they would otherwise save for being free from the burden of travelling great distances to take the test. Despite the obvious benefits, there still are students who would fly to the United States to take the SAT, which raises the question, Why? Why would anyone in their right mind want to skip school, travel for approximately thirty hours by plane, take the test jet-lagged, come back to school jet-lagged, and miss valuable study time while not even possibly be at peak performance when they take the test? Why indeed.

Although teachers do not divulge this to students beforehand, those who fly to the United States for the SAT will get the chance to skip school on an unexcused absence. Yeah, this doesn’t sound too great in retrospect when faced with the ugly truth, but hey, you win some you lose some. While it definitely isn’t all too enticing considering its numerous shortcomings, this doesn’t mean that it is without merits. Firstly — though this may be circumstantial and entirely dependent on individual preferences — it might be refreshing to change the scenery in the SAT testing rooms and from it, perhaps, cultivate the desired mindset to do well on the test. Secondly, while AISG does offer many opportunities to take the SAT throughout the year, there are students whose schedules enable them to take additional tests so they may push the boundaries of their abilities.

On a side note though, regardless of its advantages and disadvantages, the decision of whether or not to take the SAT, including the specific location where it might be taken, should ultimately be a choice made by the students. Everyone should be allowed the freedom to decide their future. Isn’t that something contained in the constitution?

Then again, maybe the subject of the SAT should be correlated with freedom of choice; it is merely a standardized test, after all. But, the ability to choose one’s path is a fundamental right I believe every student deserves. There is no law which requires a person to have a job, and similarly, an education. Of course, the consequences would probably manifest as the unpleasant experiences in one’s life, but that’s also a choice for people to decide for themselves, right? Maybe I’m thinking too deeply into this, but oh well.

Let me know what you guys think in the comments below.