Counting Down to the New SAT
After years and many months of preparation, the new Redesigned SAT is finally about to be released. The first test date for the new SAT will be March 5th of this weekend.
Throughout the summer and fall, educational and tutoring sources, as well as the official College Board website, have provided information to students, teachers, and tutors detailing the differences between the new and previous SAT, and strategies to prepare for the test. In addition, many students took the latest PSAT, a redesigned version of the Preliminary SAT, and were able to experience many of the key new features of the new test in practice.
A few significant new features of the SAT include a modified scoring system and format structure, questions that place more emphasize on analytical thinking, context-based and evidence-based reasoning, and understanding the meaning of texts. The test is also intended to use more relevant vocabulary words and math problems – ones that reflect what test takers have learned throughout their high school education or that are relevant to college or career skills.
As always, one of the best ways for students to prepare for the test is to study and use practice test material on a regular basis to familiarize themselves with the material – a course of preparation that many find useful to take with the guidance of tutors or tutoring websites. The specific exercise of taking practice tests also has the added benefit of allowing students to get used to managing their time and attention to take the test in the most effective way for them.
By the time of test time, the investment students have made in preparing for the test in the previous months can make a large difference in how well they feel on test day.
For up-to-date information on SAT and test dates, students should refer to the official test website, as well as any final advice or notifications from their teachers or tutors.
Good luck to all the test takers on their test!
Socrato is a website for scoring and performance reports for standardized admissions test preparation. Socrato reports are available for the SAT, ACT, PSAT, SSAT, HSPT, and many more tests. You can learn more or try for free at socrato.com. Featured image credit: openDemocracy
