On March 9th, 2024, the first digital SAT was administered by CollegeBoard all across the country. The Scholastic Aptitude Test, or the SAT, is a standardized test that many higher education aspirants take to get a score they can utilize in the college admissions process. Previously, the SAT was administered on pencil and paper, but starting this year all SATs are now administered digitally. Many high schoolers, especially in Virginia, are currently well accustomed to taking digital tests like the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) and Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests. Additionally, this format change significantly reduces the length of the SAT, as it’s been shortened by an entire hour.
“It went by much faster than I thought it would,” said junior Nazmeen Azhar. “I was out of [the testing center] in about two hours, which was much faster than it used to be. It definitely makes the whole thing less stressful.”
CollegeBoard, the not-for-profit organization that’s in charge of the SAT and AP programs, administers their tests on the BlueBook application, which is available on most Laptops, Tablets, and county-owned devices. Additionally, the structure and difficulty of the test have significantly changed. The test is now divided into four modules, two for Reading and two for Math. The test is adaptive, so if a test taker does well on their first module, the second module will be significantly harder. Test scores are released two weeks after test administration and can range from 400-1600, which remains unchanged. Scores for the March SAT are set to be released on March 22, 2024.
