Indian students sitting the SAT this year will be the last ones to take the paper and pencil-based international college entrance test. The SAT-conducting body, College Board, recently announced that it is ready to roll out the brand new digital avatar of the SAT from the Spring of 2023. This test will be available in 50+ cities at various schools and testing centers across India. Students who are currently in classes 10 or lower will be able to take advantage of the new SAT which is slated to become leaner and more user-friendly.
What’s new with the SAT?
Test Duration:
The new SAT will be shorter, of two hours only. It will have two sections or modules: Reading & writing and Math. The test being adaptive, how you perform in the first module will determine the difficulty-level of the questions in the other module.
Test Content:
The new SAT will be less arduous with more direct questions. In Reading Comprehension, instead of a few long paragraphs, there will be much shorter passages with one contextual question each. Even Math questions will be more concise than before.
Additional Opportunities to Test:
The new SAT will be held at international locations, including India, 7 times a year instead of the current 5 times. Students will be able to schedule their test for when they are best prepared.
Test Resources:
Students will have the convenience of flagging questions and coming back to them for reviewing. A timer with hide/show feature will be available at the top of the test window. For the Math section an on-screen calculator will be available for all questions. Students can also bring their own calculator if they want. A reference sheet with common formulae will be provided too.
Have you taken the SAT before?
SAT Result:
The new SAT will still be scored out of 1600 so no surprises there. However, SAT scores will be available in a few days instead of weeks. This will enable students to meet deadline requirements and report their scores faster to colleges. SAT scores will continue to remain valid for five years as before.
More College Info:
In digital score reports, students will be able to get better insight into colleges, courses and career options.
Jamboree’s advice to students
College Board is introducing the digital SAT in international locations in 2023, but in the US, the digital SAT will be starting from 2024 after the initial trial. So, it makes sense to be prepared for a few glitches in the initial stages. (It happened with ACT and AP exams as well. When these exams went online, the first test was riddled with technical problems and test cancellations.) So, it makes sense for many students to take the SAT before it changes.
Moreover, Indian students are used to paper-pencil tests and exams, and are more comfortable with them. That’s why after the ACT became online, the number of ACT test takers in India went down by more than 70%. From next year, SAT students will have no option, so, they should take the exam in its current form this year once.
The sample questions, mock tests, etc. for SAT digital will be released by College Board only in August 2022. There will be very few mock tests available for students initially. So, students who were thinking of taking the SAT in March or May of 2023 should take it in 2022.
In short, students in Classes 10, 11 and 12 should take the SAT at least once in 2022 before it changes. Students who are in Classes 8 and 9 will have more time to prepare and get ready for the SAT Digital.
Need more information on SAT preparation and college admissions abroad? Connect with our SAT experts with more than 28 years of experience and get all your doubts answered!
