SATs go digital with shorter test-taking time for 2024
TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - The SAT will soon make a complete shift from a paper-based exam to a digital one, and the format of the college admissions exam is also changing dramatically.
"Those changes – if students and schools are not careful – will catch them off guard," said Phillip Bates, director of college readiness and college prep content for UWorld, a test prep company headquartered in Coppell.
The nearly century-old test will be taken on a computer or tablet starting in March 2024, and UWorld has been re-working its SAT course to adapt to the shorter, digital version.
The exam will go from three hours to just two.
Students will be able to use a calculator, built directly into the interface, on all the math problems, and gone are the long, multi-paragraph reading prompts.
"There is a section where a student has to look at a bulleted set of notes and answer a question from that," Bates said. "So I think it's more interesting. Maybe that's just because it's new, but it's certainly different and I think it does go along with education today."
The adaptive format means not every student will be taking the same exam.
"So students take a first section and either go to an easier path or a more difficult path," said Jamie Reed, the product marketing manager for college readiness at UWorld. "If they go down the easier path, they're capped out at a certain level [for scoring]."
These changes come at a time when the relevance of the SAT and ACT to the college admissions process is being called into question. According to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, more than 1,800 colleges and universities in the U.S. are now test-optional for applicants.
"They know what's going on with students, and they understand public opinion, and they're going to constantly look at ways they can improve their tests and improve their experience, to make it more relevant," Reed said. "And I think they're doing a lot to make it more accessible for students."
Many students believe standardized test scores will still help set their applications apart.
"My current dream school is UT Austin," said 16-year-old Karrington Price, a rising junior in Duncanville. "I want to go there and they're really selective, so that's why getting the highest SAT score is important to me."
Price isn't worried about the exam going digital.
"We even take our STAAR test online now," she said.
She does want to nail down the content though and plans to use the UWorld program for practice.
"If nothing else, it really helps students gain confidence, so that they walk into test day knowing what to expect," Reed said.
UWorld believes a little preparation can go a long way.
"If students are willing to commit the time and work hard, they can do exceptionally well," said Bates.
UWorld is giving Girls Inc. and other North Texas nonprofits access to its recently revamped SAT course.
"We really want to invest in organizations like that, especially here in our backyard, in our own community," said Reed.
You can watch our previous story on those efforts by clicking here.