There is surprising news for students graduating in 2025 and after. They would be the first generation of students to be testing out the new digital SAT. Many changes have been made to the SAT, which will forever change how students take the test.
There are mixed feelings about the new digital SAT in students. Some believe that it will be a positive change that will help them get a higher score, while others are worried that they may not do well on the new digital SAT.
Of the responses collected from 16 juniors, all from different classes and schools, it is an even split between students who prefer the paper SAT format and students who prefer the digital format.
“I prefer the digital SAT because I have heard that it is a lot easier than the paper SAT and it is a lot shorter,” YingYing Yang said. “Because there are fewer questions in the digital SAT, you have more time for each question now which is also a huge advantage because I’ll be less stressed about the time and more focused on the actual question.”
YingYing and many other juniors love the idea of a digital SAT. Many of them believed that the change would improve their scores on the exam.
She is correct about the SAT being shorter, the College Board has announced that the digital SAT would be 2 hours long instead of 3 hours. The digital SAT would also have a shorter reading passage, and the students can use a calculator for the entire math section.
Junior Nafisa Patwary expressed her enthusiasm for the new changes coming to the digital SAT.
“The digital one has shorter reading passages which makes it a lot easier to pay attention and maintain focus,” Nafisa Patwary said. “The digital one also allows for calculators throughout the entire math section and is an hour shorter overall.”
Despite the positive feedback the new digital SAT is receiving, some still dislike the new changes.
Junior Jeremy Monlina is one of the critics. He is worried about the performance of a new system and how well it will function.
“I prefer the paper SAT over the digital because the digital SAT is a new system being implemented in all school systems and there is a high chance for new issues and complications to arise for the students taking the digital SAT, “ Jeremy Molina said. “Technology can also be an issue during the digital SAT as some computers may not work, while the paper SAT can be administered and distributed more easily in my opinion.”
The College Board has said that if you are taking the SAT at a school, your school will most likely provide a device for you to take the exam. However, the school system is not known to be very tech-savvy.
“For my school’s digital PSAT, one of our computer labs had no wifi and couldn’t start the exam for like 20 minutes,” Nafisa Patwary said. “There’s always going to be technology and accessibility struggles.”
With all the technical issues that might arise, why did the College Board want to go digital? One of the main reasons why the College Board changed the SAT to a digital format is to implement their new testing system of adaptive questions.
An adaptive question system, as the name suggests, will adjust to the student’s performance during the test. As the students provide more correct answers, questions will increase in difficulty and points. This is to create a more accurate assessment of a student’s abilities.
“I suppose it will provide a slightly more accurate assessment as questions will be modified based on the student’s skill level,” Junior Kevin Wang said. “However, I don’t think it will be much of an improvement.”
But ultimately, regardless of the changes that the College board implements, the SAT remains a standardized test.
“Students shouldn’t base their abilities on a test,” Junior Tracy Yang said. “The SAT is purely testing you on how well you take the SAT and is not a good measure of your skills.”
