Moira Kaluzienski

Hon English 12 PD 7
February 7, 2019

Required Exams

Luckily for me, throughout high school I did not have to deal with the stress that exams

impose on students, however, now that I will be in college next year, I am beginning to realize

that I am missing a very necessary component that is needed in order to pass classes or get a

certain career, which for me will be physical therapy. Every high school should be required to

administer cumulative final exams even if it is just for juniors and seniors; since a lot of grades in

college are based off of cumulative exams, it is necessary to acquire the skills of taking a

college level test. Not only are grades in college based off of these exams, but there are

multiple “real-life” skills and attitudes that are gained while taking them.

When I first got to high school, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) required

cumulative exams for almost every class that students took. The next year, MCPS got rid of

exams all together. This definitely hindered my ability to perform well on exams, which lead to

more difficulty while taking AP exams and the SAT, very important tests which could possibly

determine the future for some students. Not having the practice needed to take rigorous and

fast paced exams handicapped my abilities to master the timing and format. During exams, I

tend to spend a good amount of time trying to figure out one problem, which forces me to rush

to finish the test and immediately affecting my final grade. If my high school was to administer

cumulative exams at the end of each semester, my test-taking skills would be much better than

where they are now, leading to a more successful and stress free college experience.

Even if schools do not enforce cumulative exams, some students may still have the

opportunity to be introduced to long exams similar to those through AP exams, the SAT or ACT.

However, not every student has the opportunity to take a test because it is expensive, time

consuming, or there may be other factors at home which hinder their availability. If every school
was to administer cumulative exams, students would not have to worry about spending a whole

lot of extra time and money to practice these exams on their own.

In addition to being successful in college, taking exams in high school also allows

students to be exposed to specific areas of content and skills that can help them in the future.

Time management is one of the biggest skills that any student can learn from taking exams. Not

only does managing the time of the actual exam encourage students to study beforehand but it

will also teach them responsibility. The student will feel the need to study and become an expert

for that subject which expands the knowledge of students, it can spark an area of interest they

may want to pursue and they will have no problem answering the questions. This will also

encourage them to find time to balance their social life, other school work, sports, a job, etc.

Having this skill can be applied to any part of someone’s life whether it be in the future when

you have kids and a job or rather balancing a career with a social life. Time management is

always an important skill to have and it can easily be achieved through cumulative exams in

high school.

Not only do cumulative exams in high school give students vital skills needed for the

future, they also add competition in the classroom which transfers to adult life. Exams can set

the bar high for students to push themselves to get a better grade than the person next to them.

Enforcing competition in the classroom allows for students to blossom as individuals which will

set them up for their future whether it be for a job interview or just a job in general. Having a

competitive spirit for a job interview can make students work harder to get the job; leading them

to become more successful.

Some may argue that exams in high school only cause stress, anxiety, and frustration or

that they are not a fair way of testing someone’s knowledge. Because exam schedules are set

up to have them all taken in a short span of time, it makes it difficult to memorize all the

information needed in order to get a good grade on the exam. Some students may not be good

test-takers or they can get anxious while taking the exam, leading to a poor grade. In high
school especially, exams are not always a fair way to test a students knowledge in comparison

with their classmates because they might struggle on exams. There are other methods of fairly

testing a students knowledge, however, being exposed to tests like these at a young age gives

every student more time to figure out their strengths and weaknesses on a cumulative exam.

They can spend the next few years practicing and ultimately mastering the skill they originally

struggled in. This would set students up for a higher success rate on exams in college and for

certain careers.

Without administering cumulative exams in high school, students will not be able to work

on the skills they will need to succeed in college. Since MCPS has gotten rid of exams, I have

not been able to clearly define what I struggle in on exams; without this, I will have to work

strenuously to attain the grade point average I will be happy with. High school is supposed to

prepare us for college with rigorous courses and exams so without having exposure to these

exams, our college experience will be much harder. Although I feel that I have personally

mastered my time management throughout my own schedule because I play sports, keep up

with my school work, and have an active social life, not all students are the same way. Some

may need that extra push or mandatory exam to begin working on their time management and

skills for taking exams which will lead to a better college and life experience.