Amid questions around the fairness of college admissions tests—and whether or not they’re even necessary at all—it was just announced that the SAT will go completely digital by 2024. The College Board recently announced the end of an era that required kids to meet at testing centers with their No. 2 pencils, ready to fill out an answer bubble sheet. Students will now complete the test on laptops or tablets and the test will be shortened from three hours to two. So, why did these major changes come about and what do they mean for kids and parents? As the Chief Academic Officer at Varsity Tutors and an expert on standardized testing, having taught tens of thousands of SAT students and co-authoring test prep books, here’s what you need to know.

Why Is the SAT Changing?

The growing trend toward “test-optional” is really a trend toward eliminating friction for students in applying to college. Schools want to keep application volume high, so giving the option to skip a big hurdle like the SAT protects against potential applicants just not applying. With this move, the SAT is removing a lot of friction from the option to take the test. The goal is to make the option to test a lot more appealing.

This is part of an overall trend: schools have gone test-optional and allowed for “superscores” (combining your best performances on each section across multiple tests). The SAT recently dropped its optional essay section in an effort to shorten the test and reduce the number of decisions that students need to make. Both the SAT and ACT have added test preparation materials to their websites to make studying even easier. The trend in admissions at all levels has been toward removing barriers to students applying, and to making it easier for them to choose to take a particular test.

I fully expect that the ACT will announce some new, student-friendly policies to react to this: the two tests are competing for students, and that competition benefits students as the tests each look to be the friendlier option.

There’s also an element of appealing to colleges here, too. A driver of “test-optional” and “test-blind” admissions, like we’ve seen in the University of California system, is the notion that standardized tests favor those who can pay for the tools to take and succeed on them. One notable change to the SAT will be the appearance of an on-screen graphing calculator: those calculators are a hefty expense, so giving students easy access to them—and I’m sure the College Board website will make the calculator and even tutorials available in its prep tools so that students can get familiar with using it—is a big step toward leveling the playing field for lower-income students.

What Does The Change to the SAT Mean for Students?

Students will be thrilled at the idea of a shorter test with more on-screen tools to help them, including the on-screen calculator, the timer to help them pace themselves, and a tool to flag questions to return to later. A test that feels a little more helpful and manageable can go a long way toward building confidence and reducing stress, which should enable students to perform up to their potential.

Another really helpful facet of the change is the flexibility and availability of test dates. That has the potential to be the biggest advantage for students: when tests are only offered on a handful of fixed Saturday mornings per year, students often run into the challenge of a test date that just doesn’t lend itself to peak performance. For example, their one springtime shot comes the same week as their biggest track meet or theater performance of the year, and that cramps their study and sleep schedules or divides their attention. Or the test is only available a few towns away, and given the early morning start that puts them at a disadvantage just from waking up and getting there. Now with the potential for more testing dates, times, and locations, students will have more options to find testing appointments that allow them to prepare thoroughly and feel primed for peak performance.

What Is SAT Adaptive Testing?

The headline is that the test is getting shorter, but the reason it’s able to do that is that the computer-based test allows for adaptivity–because the test can determine a student’s general ability level and then ask questions closer to that level to get a more accurate measurement, it needs fewer questions to provide an accurate score. A perfect scorer doesn’t need to answer several basic questions that really exist to differentiate between lower scores, and a more modest student doesn’t need to struggle and guess through the most advanced vectors, matrices, and trigonometry questions that differentiate between the top scorers.

The way that the SAT will adapt is by section, much like the current GRE does. Each student will see two math sections and two reading/writing sections, and their performance on the first of each section will determine the difficulty level–and the number of ‘available points’–on the second. So it will be all the more important to be a fast starter on the new, shorter test: a rough performance on a first section can put a ceiling on the number of points available on the second. So students will want to get to the test center warmed up and ready to go, and use every bit of “extra” time on their first sections to double-check and correct mistakes so that their second sections give them the best chance to maximize their scores.

What You Need to Know about the SAT Moving Forward

If you are in 10th or 11th grade: there’s nothing to see here. American sophomores and juniors will take the existing SAT so don’t be distracted by these announcements.

If you are in 9th grade: challenge yourself with a rigorous academic schedule and don’t worry about the SAT until spring of 10th grade when you take the PSAT. The best path to a high SAT score is being comfortable with math, reading, and writing skills; the format of test questions and timing will start to matter when you’re within 2-3 months of taking the test.

The best way to think about test-optional is that really everything on your application is optional. Taking AP classes is optional; being valedictorian or captain of the track team is a bonus, but not required. You just need your application to have enough reasons for an admissions officer to want to accept you over the competition. So if you think you can get a score that will look good on your application, you should probably opt to test; if you’re fairly confident that you just can’t get a score that will help your application, that’s when you can spend that time on other things that will benefit you.

Photo: Ben Mullins on Unsplash

Brian Galvin

Tinybeans Voices Contributor

Brian Galvin is the Chief Academic Officer for Varsity Tutors. A lifelong educator with a Master's in Education, Brian's been teaching and developing online classes since 2009. He recently helped design After School Clubs, offering interactive activities and instruction in areas beyond traditional academic subjects.