During their junior year, all high school students take the SAT exam. This high stakes exam plays a large role in a student's academic future. Most universities in the U.S. consider a student's SAT score before admission.
Every year at Cass Tech, there are a few students who score a 1500 or above. The state of Michigan's average SAT score was 985 in 2019. The test scores are scored in the spring session of the SAT every year.
Cass Tech seniors Abdul Repon and Omar Ahmed each earned a score more than 1500 on the SAT last school year.
Monica Jones, a counselor at Cass Tech, said she believes that the great test scores have come from the school’s urgency to prepare the students. She advises students to take the exam a year early in order to get a feel for how the exam is. She said she believes it gives the students an opportunity to find out what their strengths and weaknesses are on the exam.
“I usually advise students to take it don’t wait until the April exam of your junior year,” Jones said. “I usually advise them to take it at the end of their sophomore year and the beginning of their junior year.”
Two seniors at Cass Tech received a score over 1500 last school year. Abdul Repon received a 1550 and Omar Ahmed received a 1510. Ahmed and Repon are both friends and said they looked at each other's scores in a friendly competitive way. Repon originally scored a 1420 on the SAT, but to the Ivy League schools he was considering that score was average.
“I wanted a score that’d set me apart from others,” said Repon.
In doing so he exceeded his own expectations.
Repon credits his teachers throughout his years at Cass for helping him prepare.
“I’ve had the same math teacher since sophomore year and he’s helped me so much in the math aspect of the SAT,” he said.
Since his freshman year he has always taken advanced courses, and credits surrounding himself with students who had the same goals and aspirations as him. Repon’s family was surprised by his high score, but they had high confidence that he would perform well on the SAT.
Ahmed took a completely different approach towards the exam. His junior year he was overwhelmed with work from his honors and AP classes. He didn’t get a chance to study for the SAT until the week prior to taking it, which is when he says he heavily utilized Khan Academy’s SAT study material.
He credits Luis Jiminez, a class of 2019 Cass Tech graduate, for helping and setting an example for him on the SAT. He believes that Cass has provided him and his fellow classmates with a different SAT experience than other schools in the district.
“Cass gives its students many opportunities and challenging curriculums that help to maximize their academic potential,” Ahmed said.
