On October 2, juniors and seniors gathered to take the test that can decide their academic future, some for the first time, and some for the last: the SAT.

Students from 11th and 12th grade took the SAT, an integral part of the college application process. A standardized test used by most colleges and universities in the U.S. to make admission decisions, the SAT’s purpose is to measure the students’ acquired knowledge and their readiness for college. It also provides institutions with one common category that will allow comparison between possible candidates.

Many students who took the test for the first time agree that the English section was by far the most challenging, and are struggling to study for it on upcoming tests.

Charlotte Carr, a first year junior from Hingham, Mass. thinks she struggled with the reading section but that she believes she did well regardless.

“The English was more challenging than I expected,” she said. “My main concern was the reading portion because it was more science based than I had hoped, but I still think it went well.”

Mary Zhou, a second year sophomore from China also took the test for the first time. Similarly to Charlotte, she found the English section particularly difficult.

“The reading part was harder than I expected,” she said. “Some of the writing and grammar parts were hard, but not all of them. Math was fine.”

Meanwhile, senior Praghya Raja, from Saudi Arabia, who took the test for the third time, said she had difficulty finding time to study between a schedule full of classes and homework and sports.

“I honestly just hope that my studying from the past summer paid off,” Praghya said.

To better prepare for the test, students used many different strategies. Mary used SAT exams from past years, posted on the College Board website, to familiarize herself with the structure and questions.

A senior who does not wish to be named explained how they improved by paying attention to the things they got wrong in the practice tests and focusing on those weaknesses.

“I just kept doing the practice tests over and over again, identifying and learning form my mistakes,” the student said.

Praghya has some advice for students new to the SAT testing process, based on her own pervious experiences.

“First thing I would say is to study really hard and try to finish it off by junior year, because you definitely don’t want to be stressing about the SAT your senior year while you have other more important things that you have to be worrying about,” she said.