Some younger students opting to take old SAT over revamped version

For years students have been taking the SAT, and they studied by using SAT practice books or attending prep classes for the same kind of test.

But starting in the spring of 2016, the SAT is going to change. College Board wants this newer and redesigned test to be “more focused and useful than ever before.”

Some major changes include an optional essay, a shortened time of three hours and a score out of 1600. Because of these changes, some sophomores and even freshmen are scrambling to take the more predictable old SAT.

One of those students is sophomore Jessy Liu.

“We get the new SAT in the spring session of our junior year, so I think that it would be really risky [to take],” Liu said. “We are only vaguely informed about what the new format is; you don't know for sure what has changed.”

Colleges accept an SAT score whenever students choose to take the test. Students often take it their junior year for better performance on the test, but even some freshmen would rather take the old SAT.

Freshman Caitlyn Chen said ninth graders may not be as  prepared as sophomores and juniors, but with preparation, the test should be doable.

“We have more time than juniors and seniors that are busy with their hard classes, so freshman with easier classes have more time to focus and study for the SAT,” Chen said. “It makes sense for me to take it soon, rather than when the test changes.”