Today we’re doing a deep dive on the move to a digital test for both the SAT & ACT. This is a significant shakeup in the established standardized test process that is causing a lot of consternation for students. Much of that anxiety can be credited to not understanding what those changes are and how one should prepare. I’ll do my best to clear that up today!

The SAT will do a hard swap over to the digital test starting with their March 2024 dates. The content will be the same and it will be scored on the familiar 1600-point scale. For students with demonstrated need for accommodations will still be afforded that opportunity. Students may bring their own device (laptop or tablet), use a computer from the testing facility, or borrow one from the College Board. Updated software, WiFi capabilities, a full charge, and downloading the Bluebook app from the College Board website are the minimum requirements. The digital SAT is about 25% shorter (2:14 run time) with 56 fewer questions. It does that by using adaptive methodologies where they assess the student’s performance on the first module to tailor the second module to precisely assess the student’s knowledge and skills. Here’s where you can learn more about adaptive testing – Adaptive Testing.

The ACT has relatively fewer changes and has less clarity on when it will become mandatory to take the test via a digital format. They do offer a digital version starting in December 2023 at select testing centers, but taking the test via that method is completely optional. I would expect a phased rollout to more testing centers over 2024, but the ACT is reserving the right to assess the data from the December 2023 tests to fine tune their plan. On the bright side, the digital test is identical to the paper version in terms of content and length (2:55 run time). The 36-point maximum still applies. It does differ from the SAT in that students will only have the option to use a testing-center provided device.

You may be asking why this even matters with many schools moving to test-optional policies. While there are a couple of high-profile holdouts for the 2024 high school class. Namely MIT, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, and the military academies. Schools are still uncertain if the test-optional policies will persist. Most are reviewing the policy each year, and some elite universities have flipped back to requiring the standardized test, like Dartmouth. If you’re wondering about the testing policy for a school you’re interested in, check out College Testing Policies.

Additionally, even at the test-optional schools, submitting standardized test scores doubled admissions rates for class of 2026 students at Notre Dame and UVA –Test-Optional Data. Before jumping to conclusions, there’s some bias in the data since a student can choose whether to submit scores after receiving their results and people with higher test scores have an incentive to submit them. For current seniors, this does not mean that you should drop everything and cram for the December tests. Surveyed colleges report that your high school GPA and essays are still dominant factors in admissions. For our high school juniors and later, we can provide referrals to test prep businesses in your area.