"Nothing is certain but death and taxes." Everyone knows this adage, but college-bound teens must add one other certainty: standardized testing.
As seniors prepare to head off to college, the tests are over with and they don't have to stress about them anymore. However, for college-bound underclassmen, the time has come to start taking the dreaded ACT and SAT.
Everyone's heard the rumors of how hard these tests are, but many students still get excellent scores on them, earning themselves thousands of dollars in scholarships -- and in some cases full rides to college -- based on their scores alone.
Are they geniuses? Maybe. Or maybe they studied for the test.
There are many books and courses out there the claim to help boost your score, but do they really help? Or would it be better to go into the test without any practice at all?
Many students questioned said that they took the test without practicing.
"I registered for the test, and just walked in and took it," said South Charleston senior Zach Brunetti. He added that he has a really good memory, but whether or not that had any effect on his score is unknown.
South Charleston junior Christina Whitt, on the other hand, chose to study. She took an ACT Prep class and she had her mother, a math teacher, help her.
South Charleston offers an ACT Prep class in its curriculum as a way to help students prepare for the ACT. Many students who have taken the class have scored very well on the tests, including one person who scored a 27 on the ACT.
In the Charleston area, both West Virginia State University and the Sylvan Learning Center offer ACT/SAT preparation courses, but they aren't cheap. The Sylvan course, for example, costs $895 according to the company's website (tutoring.sylvanlearning.com).
Another study option is to use old ACT tests for practice or using study guides (either from books you've purchased or from the Internet). South Charleston senior Katie Morris chose this option.
"One of my teachers let me borrow some old ACT Tests, and I also used on-line practice tests," she said.
On the official websites for the ACT (act.org) and the SAT (collegeboard.com), students can take free sample tests. Both sites offer in-depth explanations of each question's correct answer.
Whatever you method, if any, to use is up to you. Just remember, if you're not pleased with your score the first time around, you can always take the test again.