Students spend summer prepping for SAT ahead of new exam style
DALLAS, Texas (CBSNewsTexas.com) - High school students can soon say goodbye to their No. 2 pencils for the SAT. The college admissions exam is moving to an all-digital format, and preparations for the changes are in full swing.
"I want to be as prepared as a I can be for the test to get the highest score I can," said 16-year-old Karrington Price, a rising junior who is spending part of her summer break in an SAT prep class through Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas.
"This is very high stakes for not only the girls in our program, but all sorts of students," said Jaime Cabrera, the senior director of development for Girls Inc of Metropolitan Dallas. "It's high stakes for them and their families. That score could be the difference between them getting into college or not."
However, SAT prep courses can cost thousands of dollars.
Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas serves girls from six to 18 years old who are primarily from low-income communities and wouldn't typically have access to classes like that.
"We really want to invest in organizations like that, especially here in our backyard, in our own community," said Jamie Reed, the product marketing manager for college readiness at UWorld, a test prep company headquartered in Coppell.
UWorld is giving Girls Inc. and other North Texas non-profits access to its recently revamped SAT course.
Students in the U.S. will start taking the new digital exam in March of 2024. Moving from paper and pen to a screen isn't the only major change for the nearly century-old test.
"The format of the SAT is changing quite a bit," Reed said. "It's going to be a much shorter exam. It's going to be adaptive, so students take a first section and either go to an easier path or a more difficult path.
Knowing what to expect can bring confidence.
"At first I was nervous, but after doing UWorld and doing the practice questions, I don't feel as bad because I'm like okay, I can do this," Price said.
She plans to keep practicing until test day.
In the second part of this series on the digital SAT, CBS News Texas will take a closer look at the new format and the changing landscape of college admissions to better prepare students for the exam.
That story will air Thursday evening at 5 p.m.
