NEW YORK, NY — Last Saturday, thousands of teenagers across the world test-drove the CollegeBoard’s latest college entry examination. Standing on the shoulders of its predecessors (namely, the Advanced Placement exams and the SAT reasoning and subject tests), the new Test for Excellence in Standardized Traits (T.E.S.T) aims to bring together all the factors contributing to college success into a single examination.

“We realized that most high-schoolers today spend an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to prove to colleges that they deserve entrance to their university,” explains CollegeBoard President Gaston Caperton. “However, new research has shown that the most important aspects of college success go beyond having a large vocabulary and an ability to solve 45 math problems in 50 minutes, to include such vital character traits as dedication and time management. That‘s why we created an exam that will test those traits as well.”

The revolutionary new exam aims to test all aspects of a student, from academic areas such as scientific reasoning skills, to personality traits such as kindness and honesty, with the goal of helping colleges make a better informed decision during the admissions process.

“Previously, students had to write dozens of college essays about various personality traits they wanted to demonstrate,” says college counselor Sara Berman. “The problem with this approach was that students could pick and choose what traits they wanted to show, and their portrayals of themselves were far from objective. I think the TEST is a wonderful idea because it sets a standard for comparing students not only in math and English, but as an entire person.”

CollegeBoard’s estimates show that the 60-hour test, spanning eight days and costing $985, will actually save students time and money in the long run.

“Our research shows that students in the past would spend up to 500 hours on the college application process, from writing essays to sitting exams, and paid over $1200 for test fees, tutoring, and counseling,” says Caperton. “The TEST will eliminate the need for any other tests or application materials, making the entire process much more pain-free.”

Students will be graded on a scale from 200 to 800 (a remnant from the now archaic, but much-acclaimed, SAT exam) in 30 to 34 subject areas, a list of which can be found at the bottom of this article.

“The etiquette section was my strong point,” said Jamie Johnson, who received a perfect 800 on that portion of the exam during pilot testing last December. “I’m excited about the TEST because I’m not good at science, but I can make up for it by demonstrating superior moral character in a standardized testing environment.”

Colleges will now be able to tailor their admissions requirements to suit the particular kind of student they want to admit to their school. Schools with heavy workloads may place higher emphasis on the Efficiency and Time Management sections, while schools emphasizing public image can focus on Punctuality and Etiquette. Furthermore, art institutes will have a reliable standard against which to compare students’ creative and artistic skills.

“I am confident that this test will revolutionize the way society views the college application process,” predicts Caperton. “Everyone will benefit, from students to counselors to parents. The TEST is a very exciting development. A new age has dawned in standardized testing.”

Students are required to take all 30 of the subjects on List A, plus a choice of foreign language from List B.