For my last SAT, I was dressed in sweats to be as comfortable as possible, wrapped in the familiar warmth of my Aritzia hoodie. What I didn’t expect was for my hoodie and too-long sweatpants to drag me down as I ended up sprinting a half-mile to my test center.
The August SAT at the Moscone Center was, hands down, the most chaotic test I have ever taken. It was my fourth SAT, and I had hoped for a calm environment where I could finally focus and maybe hit the 1500 score that I needed.
Instead, traffic on the Bay Bridge stretched my drive by almost an extra 30 minutes, and by 8:45 a.m., with Google Maps still telling me “25 minutes away,” I knew I had no choice but to ditch the car and run. I’ve heard of other kids having to sprint to their SATs, but actually living it was far more nerve-wracking. I was not the only one; soon I was surrounded by dozens of other students sprinting through the streets, cars honking as we weaved between them.
It felt apocalyptic as I watched students flood the intersections and stampede toward the SAT center. By the time I made it to the Moscone Center at 8:57 a.m., sweaty and out of breath, I was met with thousands of stressed students crowding into the building, parents plastered against the glass walls, and overwhelmed staff. Inside was even worse as students, confused and tired, did not follow the rules and directions, making everything more complicated. I waited a half an hour in a line that felt endless, then another 30 minutes just to register.
The testing hall was separated only by thin black curtains, which did nothing to block the noise. Students from other sections were wandering around, staff shouted instructions over a mic even while people were mid-test, and everything kept being delayed. After my test, I learnt that a lot of other students were not even allowed to take the test due to an issue with the Wi-Fi bandwidth, which caused many disruptions in the hall during the testing session. What was supposed to be my best SAT ended up being my most distracted and disorganized one.
Around two million students take the SAT every year, and for many students, it is supposed to play a huge role in college admissions. But my experience at Moscone just confirmed what I have been realizing after years of SATs and APs: College Board’s greed has completely outpaced any concern for students. Letting over 4,000 students flood one center was not just inconvenient, it turned an already stressful test into something unfair, chaotic, and nearly impossible to succeed in. It was clear that College Board had not prepared the staff, the Wi-Fi, or even the students for the overwhelming numbers they crammed into Moscone. It’s the duty of the College Board to accommodate students who are taking their exam and make sure every student has a fair shot. The fact that this happened to me and many other people means that for other students who want to take the SAT, give yourself extra time to avoid any extra stress.
