Your grade on a standardized test can feel like the “be-all and end-all” of who you are. All around me, my friends are taking their ACTs and SATs and letting their grade upset them or even define them. The SAT is defined as “a test of a student’s academic skills, used for admission to US colleges.” That’s all you need to know. Its entire purpose is for admission in a US college. That’s it. It’s not who you are, and it surely does not define the extent of your knowledge. It tests “skills”, and those skills do not mean anything that’s truly important. Knowing the tricks to do well on a multiple choice test will get you a good score but it doesn’t guarantee you admission to college or a good job. After talking to some adults (people who did the test 20-30 years ago)it seems not one of them could remember their score, much less still care about it. What follows is a list of tests that I believe to be much more conclusive than a standardized test.   

1. This test determines qualities people admire in you. Whether or not you are happy with the results can teach you a lot about yourself, and maybe you never realized that people were picking up on this particular attribute of yours.  

2. Through this quiz you can find out what 2 desserts you are, and reflect on whether or not you agree with the result (I love gelato but do not like custard tarts). The quiz also made me question a couple of things: What choices gave me this combination? Is my gelato side my care-free side or is that my love of travel?

3. Even with one word, I feel more represented as a kiwi than by my ACT score. Am I hard to peel? Tough on the outside and sour on the inside? A weird fruit for selective tastes?

4. What will you wish for? This quiz not only showed me my dominant personality trait but also provided a little insight into it. I am mostly unafraid to take risks, but I frequently make a fool of myself.

5. Before this quiz I had honestly never thought of the kind of traveler I am. Now, however, I know to customize future trips some more when planning for them to match my “traveler type”.

6. Again, short and sweet. This quiz result has no description, but 3 words and an image say a lot. Maybe it’s the tart raspberries or sweet drizzled sugar that reflect my personality.

7. This quiz left me desperately craving Ben and Jerry’s and now I know which flavor to get next. I do feel like a peanut butter cup sometimes!

8. This quiz gets deep fast, so consider yourself warned. My result actually made me spend some time reflecting, especially given that the year is almost over.

9. If there is one food I do not like its Cheetos, so I too did not see that coming. But maybe I am brave, yet messy, like a Cheeto.

Take these quizzes as seriously as you want. In times of stress, maybe they will be a welcome distraction. Just remember not to take your test scores too seriously. You are more than a number or a fruit.If you need extra inspo, check this out!