By SOPHIE FAWKNER and KATE BELMAN
Making its debut on March 9, the digital SAT officially became the new norm, with a reduced time of two and a half hours, a built-in calculator for both math sections, and an adaptive-based system that scores you based on the level of difficulty per question. Since the College Board has removed “standardization” and replaced it with adaptive questions and scoring, students tend to have mixed feelings towards the drastic switch from the traditional paper-based exam.
The SAT has a long history, dating back to 1926. Today, its main purpose is “to measure a high school student’s readiness for college and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants,” according to the Princeton Review. The digital SAT has two separate sections: Reading/Writing and Math. In each section, you can earn a score between 200-800 points, depending on your number of correctly answered questions. Scores change in 10-point intervals. In total, your score can range from 400-1600, which also changes on a 10-point interval
Quince Orchard offered the new digital SAT to students on March 19, advertising it in the earlier weeks. Every student in the junior class was automatically registered, which was implemented as an attempt to get as many students as possible to take the exam. Junior class students poured into school that Tuesday, heading to designated testing rooms to take the test. The digital test is an exciting new format for students.
In recent years, many colleges and universities went “test-optional” meaning that “the college allows all applicants to decide for themselves whether to submit test scores,” according to the College Board. This option was seen as an incredible opportunity for many students across the country as it no longer required them to submit their SAT/ACT scores, a typically stressful process. However, some schools such as Dartmouth and Brown will be adopting the testing requirement for those applying in the fall.
While some students at Quince Orchard have had experiences with both the digital and paper-based SAT, junior Sofia Bolanos has only taken the digital version of the test. Even though Bolanos has never taken the official SAT before the March 19 school test date, she claims that her experience was “pretty decent, despite feeling a bit nervous at first.” Thanks to the newer advancements such as a built-in use of a graphing calculator and shortened reading passages, Bolanos felt that “the testing was pretty smooth.”
Even though the digital SAT is a lot shorter and provides more tools during testing, junior Marvin Zacarias claims “the new SAT is annoying because it isn’t standardized anymore.” Essentially, the digital version of the SAT focuses more on adaptive technology. This means that even if you were to get all of the questions you received correct, you could still get a lower score than the person next to you depending on the difficulty level of those specific questions. “Even though the paper-based version of the SAT was longer,” Zacarias added, “it was a lot more fair and equal for all test takers.”
Similarly, junior Ishani Maheshwari, who also has experience with both the paper and digital SAT, thinks that “digital testing is distracting.” By spending nearly two and a half hours focusing on your screen, some like Maheshwari may feel uncomfortable. “I prefer the paper-based test because it allows me to feel a bit more comfortable and engaged,” added Maheshwari. Although students who may have had similar testing experiences as Maheshwari and Zacarias believe the digital SAT was unfair and distracting, the College Board claims that “84% of students and 99% of staff reported a better experience with the Digital SAT.”
CNN
May 2024
The Prowler 