In spring of 2024, the SAT officially went digital in the United States. However, this transition has been more intricate than a mere transition to device-based testing: the new SAT will now follow an adaptive model, too, profoundly impacting the test-taking experience and leaving Dublin High students with a few things to say.
In March, the College Board announced that the modified format of the SAT was released in response to student and educator feedback: with the majority of learning done digitally these days, College Board sought to create a test-taking experience more reflective of modern education. Not only that, they wanted to foster a testing environment that was less stressful for both students and administrators. Yet many students have actually reported an increased level of stress following the adoption of digital testing.
“The digital SAT is definitely shorter, but it’s also adaptive now. That means if you do well on the first modules for math and English, you’ll get harder questions in the second modules,” Dublin High junior Samaira Gaind shares. “I feel like this can be overwhelming sometimes.”
Indeed, many students who have taken the exam or attempted practice tests have shared similar opinions of the new model. Some students even expressed that if they did not face more challenging questions during the second half of the test, they felt as though they did poorly on the first section, which caused them to panic.
Other concerns regarding the standardized test revolve around technical issues.
“I remember when I took my first practice test, I was worried that my laptop would run out of charge in the middle of the test,” Dublin High junior Madelyn Kris shared last week. “It can’t hold power for very long and there weren’t nearly enough outlets.”
This, also, was a concern that many other students voiced. In July of 2024, College Board released a statement announcing that they could not guarantee access to power outlets for the hundreds of students testing in a session. This fact makes one wonder how students with limited access to technology are managing the new testing model.
However, as mentioned before, the SAT has been truncated; the formerly 4 hour test was shortened in duration to 2.5 hours, including breaks.
“It’s so much easier now,” Dublin High student Suraj Kudrikar shared, offering an alternative opinion. “It used to be really hard for me to focus before, but now the English modules only have small paragraphs.”
The previous SAT English section featured long passages that corresponded to sets of questions. It was difficult for many students to focus long enough to understand these challenging passages, especially with the clock ticking in a stressful testing environment. The new SAT provides a way to combat these stresses while still effectively testing the reading abilities and comprehension of students.
Fortunately for critics of the SAT’s changes, though, many colleges have permanently suspended the use of standardized testing in college admission processes, rendering these new innovations relatively inconsequential. Yet several prestigious universities still accept and even require the SAT. This situation urges the question: is it fair to use the SAT as a measure of a high schooler’s academic aptitude and college readiness? Or is it time to put stressful admission testing behind students once and for all, digital or not?