The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

In  this dystopian novel, American has been reduced to  colonies that exist in a landscape that has been turned in places to a toxic wasteland. The colonies struggle to rebuild and re-energize this new world and each year the best and brightest of students from these colonies have the opportunity to attend 'The Testing' and become students at the University and future leaders. Cia of Five Lakes Colony is chosen, but after a warning from her father of memories he has of his own time at the Testing, Cia is worried about what awaits her and what the "The Testing" truly is.