For all of the upcoming test takers out there, listen up; the SAT will be completely digital in the spring of 2024 along with the PSAT, which will be administered digitally this fall on Oct. 14. This update will have the largest impact on the classes of ‘25 and ‘24 as there have been significant changes made to the test for their year. The reading section is now more concise, questions are more direct and the most significant change is the test’s adaptability. Essentially, the test will adjust the difficulty of questions depending on the student’s performance on previous questions, tailoring the test to the skill level of the student.
Due to this change, students may have to alter their original plans and studying habits in order to adapt to the digital SAT. One student that isn’t particularly happy with this new computerization of the SAT is current junior Mary Coleman. Coleman plans to take the SAT and has put in a lot of study hours, but with the change to digital, her work might have been for nothing.
“If I take the paper SAT, I have to take it this semester, which is a lot of stress. If I wait for the digital SAT, a lot of that work is going to be undone and I’m going to have to study differently all over again,” Coleman said.
A common worry shared among students is how the adaptive nature of the SAT will affect their scores and the way colleges will perceive them.
However, other students like Avery Tucker are happier with the SAT going digital, since the reading sections are easier to comprehend. Tucker has taken both a paper and digital version of the PSAT.
“I thought that the reading and writing sections were much easier on the digital one because of the shorter paragraphs,” Tucker said.
However, there are still students who remain indifferent to the shift towards digital SAT testing. To many, it’s still the same test, so therefore being online or on paper won’t make a difference to them. Junior Clark McGee had similar thoughts to this line of thinking.
“The test being digital doesn’t change anything. I think it will still be the same exact thing [as before],” McGee said.
If you plan to take the digital PSAT this fall on October 14, visit the Redwood website and complete your registration today.
