The SAT is coming back. The SAT is going away. The SAT is digital. The SAT is here to stay. In recent years major decisions have been made that have changed the SAT forever. So what are these changes and what do they mean for aspiring students?
The best place to start when discussing the SAT is all the way back in 1926, when the first SAT was administered and taken by 8000 high schoolers to identify possible recipients for scholarships for Harvard students. Since then, the SAT has grown to be a standard for college acceptance and scholarship opportunity. 1.9 million students took the SAT in 2023, and even more are predicted to take it in 2024, but with one major difference.
If you have not heard from parents, teachers, or peers, the SAT has shifted from being done on paper, to on computers. At Boise High, the PSAT has already been administered online and reviews have been mixed about the shift. The new SAT is an hour shorter than the previous test, and a built in graphing calculator is now available on all math sections. Similarly, shorter reading passages are present. This has sparked controversy among some previous test takers that were faced with longer and more arduous tests with different sections. Although the College Board claims that the comparison between online and paper SATs is completely equivalent, some students have even reported that despite shorter testing times, the digital SAT questions are much harder. This is likely due to the new digital SAT implementing an adaptive question set. If a student does very well on the first section, they will have to solve harder questions on the second section.
But the medium of testing is not the only thing that has changed. During the COVID pandemic, many colleges and universities opted to go test optional, meaning that they allowed students to choose whether or not they want to admit SAT scores in their applications. Many schools in 2024 have continued with the optional SAT route, but next year things are changing. Many Ivy League schools such as Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale have declared that SAT or ACT test scores are required in the college admissions process. On the other hand the University of California system has become test blind, meaning that SAT and ACT scores are not considered when applying to college.
Even with the uncertainty of standardized testing in the future, it still remains as an integral and impactful part of the college system and application process, and most importantly as a graduation requirement at Boise High School. The move towards digital testing has brought with it many challenges to tackle, but has also brought new successes and innovation to the SAT. Whether or not you want to go to college, or even if your SAT scores might never be looked at by colleges, the SAT is undeniably present.
