Sophomore Nikash Khanna, who took the SAT on Nov. 7th, can attest to how time-consuming studying for the test can really be. According to Khanna, he spent two to three hours each day preparing for the test by working on specific sections and doing practice tests out of the Official College Board Study Guide.

Khanna, who is aiming for a score of 2300 took the test in October, but unsatisfied with his score, he moved back to square one — enduring another few weeks of intensive studying. However, putting in tremendous effort into a good score comes with a slew of drawbacks.

While Khanna was studying for the SAT, his schedule became tighter, and his grade slipped. Now that he has finished the November test, however, Khanna has seen a great deal of improvement in his grades.

“[Now] I can stay after school and talk to teachers more, rather than having to rush home to finish my homework as fast as possible to study,” Khanna said. “One time my teacher just added [my scores] wrong. If I had talked to her a month before I would have had an A, but did not have the time.”

Now that the SAT is over, Khanna also gets a better night’s rest each day. Previously, he had been sleeping at about midnight. Completing the SAT has enabled Khanna to obtain an additional hour of sleep.

Now liberated of the stresses and time restrictions of the SAT, Khanna can finally add “months of standardized test prep” to his list of high school endeavors.