Teachers won’t be handing out number 2 pencils this year as the SAT has now been digitalized! The SAT will still be recognizable to those who have taken it in the past: It will still be organized in institutions similarly (students spread out in a classroom or other organized testing space), the questions will still be multiple choice, but possibly the biggest change is that the new SAT will trim roughly an hour off of the time it used to take.

However, the SAT Essay will still be required, and CollegeBoard is only allowing 30 minutes to write it as opposed to 40, likely because it will be typed rather than handwritten. 

The reason for the shortened time is that the system relies on adaptive testing which means that the questions vary based on students’ answers, so students will not spend as much time on questions that are either too hard or too easy. 

Hopefully, these changes will positively impact the bias and hierarchy surrounding SAT scores in terms of race, income, and opportunity by making the test more accessible. In addition to this, if students do not have a laptop, the College Board says that they will provide a loaner on the day of the test. Although, the test was not only changed to help level the playing ground but also to acknowledge that most colleges do not require students to submit SAT scores onto their applications, so it can be said that these changes make the test easier to establish and organize. 

This new form of standardized testing will enter the U.S. in 2024, so buckle up Juniors because you mark the start of a new era.