A Short Note on Standardized Testing

As I was reviewing old emails to add to the networking page, I came across an email thread in which I had sent my ACT scores to be uploaded to my profile. I felt my candidate story would be incomplete without giving you insight into my experience with test taking, so here are my results from taking the ACT:

For those of you who are unfamiliar, a perfect score on each section is 36. As you can see, my scores are pretty all over the place, and if you had asked me during the application process, I would have told you I sucked at taking standardized tests. I am going to be blunt here: the excuse of “I am bad at standardized tests” is a complete waste of your own time — don’t fall into this trap.

Why do I say this? The standardized test processed is mired with comparisons between yourself and others. I had the wonderful experience of growing up with a twin sister (love you, sis) who was able to get a 35 on the ACT without so much as opening a preparatory book. Because we had similar grades and academic performance, the only justification I had for myself was, “Oh well, I must just suck at test taking.” Rather than studying, I spent hours scouring the Service Academy Forums in the hope of finding a story about individuals with similar scores who were still admitted.

But here is the kicker: How well other people do with or without studying is COMPLETELY irrelevant. The only thing you can control is your preparation and what YOU need to do to prepare successfully. If that means you need to spend 100 hours studying to get the SAT/ACT score to be above the academy average, so be it. When it comes to standardized tests, volume beats talent.

Between the April test and the May test, I opted to skip traveling with my family for spring break. My mom and sister got to travel to D.C. and attend a Supreme Court case, where my sister had the opportunity to meet Justice Clarence Thomas (I’m still jealous). However, at that point, I had clearly recognized that if I did not achieve a score in the 30s on my English test, my ACT score would likely be far lower than what was permissible for West Point. Rather than spending time ruminating on how universally unfair it was that my sister could pass this test with such little effort, I took a practice English section every morning, went through a $100 ACT prep book my mom had bought for me throughout the day, and finished the evening with another English section.

A funny thing happened after spending those days in my empty house/hometown while all my friends and family were traveling on their spring break trips; I got better at the ACT English section — a lot better. My English section jumped up from a 23/24 to a 35 on the following test.

Looking back at the other sections, I wish I had applied the same energy and focus to each of them, as I likely could have increased my scores in all of them with any amount of deliberate studying. I was too prideful to study for math or science because I had traditionally excelled in these subjects compared to my peers. I wasn’t motivated enough to study for reading, which I had already scored decently on with a 32. This is a poor mental framework for approaching test‑taking.