The New SAT troubles EA Students

Alec Frey ’16: The new SAT will be in place in March 2016, and has already produced mixed impressions among students and families whom it affects. Despite the average assumption of people who have not deeply looked into the change that the new SAT does not differ much from the old one, it may in fact alter the entire scheme of college admissions. The old SAT not only tested on material, but also served as a good indicator of a student’s test-taking skills. After taking the practice  new SAT, however, it seems to focus more on trivial information with complete disregard for the students ability to take a test. The decision was made because of the ACT’s recent rise in in the standardized test market. Therefore, the new SAT is looking to regain the majority of the market share from the ACT, which has the reputation of being an easier test in terms of the need to problem solve and think outside of the box.

While taking the old SAT, students had to make sure that they chose their answers with assurance, as wrong answers would be penalized. The new SAT, however, allows students to guess without being penalized, meaning that students do not need to be completely sure of their answer when they fill out the bubble sheet. This is an issue because once students do not need to be completely sure of their answer, it becomes a guessing game. One would think that because of this new aspect on the new test, it would be much a much easier test. However, after taking a Practice SAT, students have realized that it is in fact much more difficult than the old one. So, not only is it not testing students on information that they are familiar with, but it is much harder than the ACT, which is never a good situation for students.

Some students have been fretting about other aspects of the new test as well. The new SAT allows students to omit the essay. It also does away with grammar in the writing section. Instead of testing students on grammatical correctness, it asks questions that concern the place of a sentence in the context of a certain excerpt. Max Guo ‘17 says, “The lack of the grammar section is disappointing, because now, I believe, the test fails to show the full profile of a writer.” Guo also says that from what he knows there is less emphasis on the vocab, causing concern for some students who thought that they had an advantage. For instance, Episcopal students have been practicing their vocab on Wordly Wise since first grade, and this information will no longer serve them well on the new SAT.

Because the ACT and the old SAT test are two distinct exams, and the new SAT is similar to the ACT, students will no longer have the same privilege of determining what test to take based on what is better suited for them, but instead have to choose from two similar tests. “It really doesn’t make much sense. I preferred taking the SAT to the ACT–so I took that as my test–but, in the future, students aren’t truly going to be able to make that choice for themselves,” Ob Peter ‘16 says in regards to the change.

Some people, however, defend the decision to implement the new test. Donielle Couture, Associate Director of College Guidance, when asked about the situation, said, “The ACT seems to be a better test for some students, and the SAT is cognisant of that. So, they’re trying to make sure they are offering it to a wide range of students.” The key here, however, is that the ACT is a better fit for some students, but not all.

Some have argued that changing tests in the middle of the academic school year was not a plan that was well thought out. If the time of the change goes as planned, many students who have practiced the old SAT will now have to prep for the new SAT as January 2016 will be the last month that one can take the old test. The March SAT administration will be full of surprises, furthermore making it difficult for students to know what to expect.

The move from the old SAT to a new SAT has come with mixed interpretations, and I claim that it will be detrimental to students who favored its predecessor, as there will be no alternative test for them to take. The decision to implement a new test was the right decision economically for the College Board, but adverse to many students who will now have to study for a new test counter-intuitive to the skills they have developed for years.