This audio is generated automatically. Please let me know if you have any comments.
The short online version of the SAT college admissions test was released on Saturday, and the College Board, which administers the test, has already declared the transition from the longer paper version a success.
More than 200,000 students have taken the digital SAT at 3,000 test centers in 173 countries. Among the test takers, 99.8% successfully completed the exam and submitted their results through Bluebook, the College Board's new digital testing app.
Overall, more than 400,000 students took the digital PSAT 10 for 10th graders and the PSAT 8/9 for 8th and 9th graders last week.
The digital SAT is shorter, lasting just over two hours compared to the three hours of the previous paper-and-pencil test. For the new version, students can use their own computer, a school-issued device, or rent a device from the College Board.
The new test has shorter passages in the reading and writing sections, and students can bring their own calculator or use the built-in graphing calculator.
“Our goal was to provide a testing experience that was more relevant to today’s students, less stressful for students and easier for educators to administer,” Priscilla Rodriguez, the College Board’s senior vice president for college readiness assessments, said Tuesday. . name.
The statement also said the SAT “plays an important role in the overall admissions process” and that test scores “can confirm a student's performance or demonstrate strengths beyond what high school grades can demonstrate.”
However, FairTest, an organization that advocates limiting the application of entrance exams, criticizes the updated test as follows: more cost effective What the College Board does is communicate and grade without addressing the specific concerns of the school, counselor, or student. In particular, FairTest raised concerns about gender, race and income disparities among test takers.
“The digital SAT still places the burden on counselors and schools to provide free staff to the College Board. The digital SAT remains weak for test prep,” the FairTest website states.
The new digital options come as institutions like Yale University and Dartmouth College reinstate standardized testing requirements. Some colleges and universities began turning to test-optional policies as a means of increasing the size and diversity of their applicant pools, with greater emphasis on strengths that could not be demonstrated on tests before the pandemic. But the move accelerated with the onset of COVID-19, which forced testing sites to close for health and safety reasons.
According to FairTest, by fall 2025, more than 1,800 colleges, including Cornell, Columbia, and Harvard, will no longer require the SAT or ACT.