<p>The way I see it, if you want to play at a certain level, you put in the work. It’s true for sports, it’s true for music, and it’s true for professions. Maybe late in high school is the first time a lot of kids realize this - that their dreams aren’t going to be realized by them coasting along. That maybe you have to give up a little of A and B if you want a whole lot of C. I just don’t see that as being one-dimensional, I see it as making mature decisions.</p>
<p>I agree with collegealum. SAT 2’s show mastery of the basics of a subject area. If you are interested in the subject area at all you should want to have this knowledge anyway.</p>
<p>As for the SAT I verbal it seems that a high score comes from having a good vocabulary (useful for the rest of your life!), and that reading speed in the wide variety of passages comes from having read on a variety of subjects. Developing this wide exposure is the very opposite of being one dimensional. And I would hope, far from being a grim process, that reading a lot would just be fun.</p>
<p>I do agree with you that it would be better to be less stressed out. But a central question is whether this stress comes from unrealistic, narrow striving or, on the other hand, frustration with the poor preparation most high schools offer.</p>