SAT:What do these initials mean to you? They make my head pound, my heart race and mypalms sweat. To me the SATs mean nothing, but to some they mean everything.

That abbreviation stands for the infamous Scholastic Assessment Test,something that scares people half to death. SATs can be the reason you do, ordon't, get into the college of your dreams. If I had to name the one thing Idespise most, it would be the SATs. They are the most ridiculous thing out there.There is more to people than just a number.

L.B.M. stands for me,Lindsay Blair Mashel. Those initials stand for who I am more than any number everwill. How can anyone get to know the real Lindsay from a number? When I meetpeople, I don't say, "Hi, I am Lindsay, and my number is 1600." Peopleaccept me for what they know about me, and that's how college admissions shouldbe. My college essays play an important role in the process, of course, but thereare other ways to evaluate someone. Many schools look first at SATs and decidewhether or not they should put you in the garbage pile.

I often wonder whyI worked so hard the last three years if I'm going to be judged by that one dayand that one number. My high-school grades are what I have studied for. Not oncehave I learned stuff in school to prepare me for the SATs, yet they seem toexpect people to learn 500 vocabulary words and 50 techniques in a fewmonths.

People assume that if you get below a 1050 on the SATs, you arestupid, and if you get above 1400, you're the smartest kid out there, but neitheris true. The SATs are pure luck - you either get a test where you know a lot orone where you know a little. Does that 1050 or 1400 show your after-schoolactivities, or your grades? Not at all!

I used to ask myself if I couldtrade in my scores for higher ones, would I? I figured out the answer. Although Iwould love a perfect 1600, I wouldn't trade my score. If a school can't accept mefor more than my number, why would I want to go there?