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New Digital SAT Exam: Everything You Need to Know

everything to know about digital sat exam

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On 25 January 2022, the College Board announced that the SAT will be going completely digital beginning Spring 2023. SAT will move from paper-based to entirely computer-based. Let us look at what the new digital SAT exam will bring.

As more institutions and students adjust to digital learning and assessment, the digital SAT is another step in that direction. International students will be taking the new computer-based SAT from Spring 2023 except students across the USA, where the digital SAT exam will be available from Spring 2024.

Here are the top universities that accept SAT scores along with their cut-offs.

IN THIS BLOG:

1.    Towards the Digital SAT
2.    What changes with SAT going digital?
3.    What stays the same in the digital SAT?
4.    Advantages of SAT going digital
5.    How SAT changed over the years

Towards the Digital SAT

In November 2021, the College Board conducted a pilot version of the digital SAT. The results showed that the computer-based SAT was less stressful for 80% of the students. 100% of the educators also responded positively to the digital version of the exam, meaning it is easy to administer.

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What changes with SAT going digital?

Digital sat exam pattern

With major parts remaining the same, the new digital SAT exam will come with some very significant changes that will impact the way students prepare and attempt the test. Mentioned below are some of the most significant changes in the digital SAT:

  1. Time-Duration of SAT

Trimming off an entire hour from the new digital SAT, the College Board has reduced the test duration from the previous three to just two hours. Test fatigue is a real thing, and this time cut comes as a relief to the students who found it tough to stay focused for three hours.

  1. Shorter Sections in SAT

With the total test-duration coming down, section-lengths will also be cut down. The new SAT exam will have more direct questions and shorter reading passages. Moreover, passage topics will be centered around what students are more likely to read in their college curriculum.

  1. Use of Calculators in SAT

Presently, SAT math is divided into Math with a calculator and Math without a calculator. The new digital SAT will allow a calculator for all math questions. An on-screen calculator will be available to students. They no longer have to worry about carrying the right calculator on the SAT exam day.

  1. Computer-Adaptive SAT

The digital SAT will be computer-adaptive, which means your performance in the first section will determine the difficulty level of questions in other sections. If you perform well in the first section, the questions in the second section will be more difficult.

  1. SAT Result Announcement

The results for the current paper-based version of the tests are announced between two and six weeks. The colleges you shortlist to send your free score, get it about ten days after you do. With the new digital SAT, the scores will be out within days rather than weeks, reducing the overall waiting time.

Does SAT give scholarship?

Have you taken the SAT before?

The digital SAT has to be taken at a testing center and cannot be attempted from your home. If the internet connection is disrupted at the center, your test progress will be saved, and you won’t lose time on the test.

Students can take the exam on the computer of a testing center or bring their laptops (some centers may ask you to use their systems only). The College Board will loan computers or laptops to students who do not have access to either.

What stays the same in the digital SAT?

Though the new digital SAT comes with a lot of significant changes, some things remain the same as the older version, such as:

  • How students study for the SAT
  • How colleges use SAT scores
  • How students are evaluated
  • How students are scored
  • The content of the SAT

Advantages of SAT going digital

Standardized tests level students across different socioeconomic backgrounds and academic grading systems. High test scores reflect your cognitive abilities and college readiness and go beyond your grades, profile, and extracurriculars.

The digital SAT comes with its own set of advantages:

  • Reduced time duration decreases students’ stress
  • Increases time available to students per question
  • Early result announcements allow students to retake SAT and still meet the college application deadlines.
  • Students will be able to flag questions and revisit them later
  • It makes SAT accessible to a larger number of students

How SAT changed over the years

Change is not new to the SAT Exam. Since 2016, SAT has stopped penalizing the test-takers for wrong answers. In the same year, the total score on SAT went back to 1600 from the previous 2400. The College Board discontinued the SAT Essay and SAT Subject tests in 2021.

The SAT has evolved and adapted to the changing times. The exam’s structure, question types, and scoring pattern have all witnessed alterations. The SAT is moving towards a simpler test structure that is both student and administration-friendly.

With the simplification and increasing ease of taking the SAT exam, we might witness an exponential rise in the number of test-takers for the digital version of the exam in 2024. This means you will face more competition and work extra hard for an outstanding SAT score.

Students of Jamboree have been acing the SAT exam, scoring a complete 1600 on their test. Book a free fifteen-minute session and talk with our SAT expert.

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