Students adapting to the new SAT

Junior Ian Kim walked into the testing room at Leigh High School on Oct. 3, prepared to do well on the new SAT. With significantly more preparation materials to available to him than for students taking the debut test in March, Kim felt confident.

Since the College Board changed the SAT format, the thousands taking the test nationwide are adapting to the new format.

In the past few months, College Board has gradually released more test-studying materials for the new version of the SAT, leveling the playing field with those who took the older test.

By working with test preparation centers and websites like Khan Academy, College Board has tried to supply students with all the information they need to do well. Junior Ayush Aggarwal thinks that the new SAT questions are more difficult, but the timing is more lenient. For the old version, he found he could not check his answers regularly.

“Overall, though, the new SAT is easier because you don’t have to study as much; it’s intuitive, whereas the old one was more of a memorization test,” Aggarwal said.

According to a survey the Falcon conducted among 59 upperclassmen who took standardized testing, 27 students said they decided to take the new SAT while two took both the ACT and the new SAT.

A few students, fearing the uncertainty of the new SAT, have opted to take only the ACT, which underwent minimal changes in terms of the format of its writing test in September 2015.

While some took the ACT because it was more suitable to their testing styles, others like junior Alex Tran are concerned that colleges might change their policies in the upcoming years and no longer accept old SAT scores.

According to Tran, the key difference between the SAT and the ACT is the style of the test; the SAT emphasizes mental endurance while ACT focuses more on time management.

“I definitely prefer the ACT to the new SAT because I don’t like the essay format of the SAT, which is a pretty big factor in terms of time usage,” Tran said.

Despite all of the recent interest in the more predictable ACT, however, junior Tristan Xiao believes that the new SAT is a better package deal than the ACT. Although it requires more preparation, he thinks test takers have a better chance of doing well and gaining additional benefits.

“For the new PSAT, if you prepare for the new SAT, you can kill two birds with one stone, so the new SAT is definitely the better choice,” Xiao said.