The Perfect Score | Teen Ink

The Perfect Score

January 2, 2015
By BecksJ GOLD, Teaneck, New Jersey
BecksJ GOLD, Teaneck, New Jersey
11 articles 0 photos 0 comments

The SAT. The most notable standardized test for college admissions. For many kids, it is THE test. It can potentially tell you what you’ll be in life: what APs you are compatible with and colleges you can get into. From the day that you start studying, to the day that you take it, until the day you get your scores, your life is in the hands of College Board. But what if you could skip all of the anxiety, blood, sweat, and tears and just have the answers. A group of motley teenagers did just that in The Perfect Score.


The 2004 teen heist film revolves around  six high school students who see the test as the obstacle to their dreams, and decide to ace the SAT by stealing the answers.There is Kyle, the movie’s main character, who needs a high enough score to get into his dream school: Cornell. Then there is Matty, Kyle’s best friend, who wants to get a high score to go to the same school as his college girlfriend. There is Francesca, whose father owns the building that houses the answers to the SAT, and wants to get a high score the receive his attention. There is Desmond, who is a star athlete but needs a high score to join the basketball team at St. John’s. There is Anna, who is the top of the class but failed her last SAT and needs to do well to get into Brown. Then there is Roy, who just wants to get out of high school.


I enjoyed the movie because of its how relatable it is to my life; I myself have wished once or twice to have the answers to the test. The acting, filmography, and soundtrack were average; nothing technically separates it from The Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink, in that it is the same as any teen coming of age movie. It was not outrageously humorous or deeply sentimental. Still, I recommend it those who are going to take the test in the next month and those who have taken the test and are waiting anxiously for his or her score.


Whether the SAT is the bane of society or just a test, there is one thing that I have realized: the number does not define my worth. It has taken me a while to get to this place, but I have realized that life is too short to stress over the SATs. I get into the college that I get into, because of my scores, my grades, my extracurriculars, and simply my personality. To everyone who has just taken the SATs or will take them, study hard, take the test, and then let it go. Do not kill yourself over it; there is more to the application.


Other than how not to break into ETS (because the tactics the characters use in the movie is quick unrealistic), The Perfect Score has taught me that there is more to life than the score I receive on the SAT. College Board is not trying to ruin my life, but simply administer a test; and if College Board is trying to ruin my life, I think it will shocked when they find out I am no longer obsessed with the SAT.


The author's comments:

"Good deeds, good grades, but the SAT doesn't care about that. You could be the class brain,a kid in the middle or dumb as a post. When you walk into this room, it's not about who you are. The SAT is about who you'll be."


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.