Before taking the SAT, the average person spends at least 10 hours studying and preparing for it. Have you personally felt that you were properly prepared for such an important test? From the first day of high school to the very last day, you are constantly prepping for tests, quizzes, and exams. The intended purpose of the SAT is to measure literature and numeracy. How can a piece of paper have so much control over your whole future? Colleges are determining your placement based off of this test and your grades. We are left believing that our intelligence and talents are only viewed by this standardized test. Why do so many students feel unprepared when taking the SAT, their junior year of high school, that is on things they have already learned? Possibly because we learned the SAT material our freshman year. For example, algebra is one of the harder sections on this standardized test. At Fraser High School, majority of us are required to take algebra our freshman year. By the time it comes to our junior year, algebra is out of practice and that is where we feel unprepared. The pressure of achieving a higher score from the SAT is overwhelming for many of us. If we wish to succeed in the future, we must apply ourselves to what is really important rather than pushing it off for another day. Through the help of teachers, tutors, or even peers we can gain more control over the outcome of OUR futures.