by Rai Sandhu ’25
The SAT is an important challenge in the lives of many high school students looking to embark on their collegiate journeys. For a long time, the SAT has been a paper-and-pencil test occurring over the duration of 3 hours. As many of you may know, the SAT has recently transformed into a digitalized test featuring two reading and two math modules. The transition from paper-based standardized tests to digital formats is a significant evolution in educational assessment. This shift reflects broader trends in digitalization impacting various sectors, including education. The move from the paper SAT to the digital SAT introduces several advantages and challenges, reshaping how students prepare for and engage with this crucial test. With the second ever digital SAT in the rearview mirror, I believe now warrants a good time to reflect on my own personal experience having taken both the digital and paper SATs as well as how to prepare for this upcoming test.
To begin, a possible advantage possessed by the digital SAT is its ability to adapt to a student’s learning capabilities. Students’ responses in Module 1 for each respective section of the exam serve as the basis for their questions in Module 2. This new addition potentially provides a more precise measure of a student’s abilities through reducing the number of overly challenging or simplistic questions. However, with such little knowledge regarding this test, many are unsure if this new addition will benefit students. For example, if one scores highly on Module 1 of the reading section, it is almost guaranteed that they will face harder more challenging problems in the next module. This new feature could potentially result in more closely related scores with only a few outliers. This is where I believe that the paper SAT has the advantage as it rewards students who know their material very well. However, a clear advantage of the digital SAT is its significantly shorter time length. As compared to its predecessor, the digital SAT provides students with a quick and easy way to answer questions and remain mentally focused throughout the entire time.
All in all, these new features present new challenges for test preparation. For those new to the digital SAT, I would recommend using Bluebook, the primary testing app, for practice before the exam. Their full-length practice tests serve as an excellent tool for learning about the digital SAT. In addition, students must recognize the new ways to annotate and label their notes during the test. In contrast with the paper SAT, the digital SAT has online annotating tools that students should familiarize themselves with to maximize their test performance. Being able to quickly navigate these tools will present students with a key advantage during the test. Lastly, on the math portion, students will receive scratch paper just like the paper SAT. However, students will also receive a graphing calculator built into Bluebook. Desmos, the graphing calculator, provides students a faster way to complete math problems, allowing for a visual representation of certain problems. In my opinion, students who are familiar with Desmos and the various other testing tools will perform significantly better than those who are not.
To conclude, I would like to wish you all the best of luck with your upcoming SAT.