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On Wednesday, March 2, 2016 every public school high school junior in the state of Connecticut

New SAT Given on March 2 to all public school students in the state of Connecticut.

The SAT has replaced the 11th grade SBAC test as the capstone indicator of a student’s college readiness in math and english/language arts.  In addition to this being the first time the state is administering the SAT to all students, it will also be the first time that the College Board is administering the SAT in its new format.

With so many changes afoot, I wanted to try and answer some of the questions that you might have.

Where will the test be administered?

Juniors will take the test in their own high school during the regular high school day.

How do we register for the test?

If a student is in the College Board system (if he or she has already taken a PSAT), then the student will be registered by their school.  If not, the student will receive a voucher and can register themselves.

Since the essay is optional, will the test be given with or without the essay?

The March 2nd administration of the SAT will be given without the optional essay section.

What if some of the schools that my son or daughter want to apply to require the essay?

Most students take the SAT test multiple times.  If your son or daughter is applying to a school that

Small classes to help you prepare for the SAT.

requires the essay, then he or she will need to take the test again on one of the national testing days and take it with the essay at that time.  However, stay tuned as many schools are still setting their policies for next year in regards to whether or not they will require the optional essay.

My child has already taken the SAT, and is happy with their score, do they still need to take the in-school SAT?

Yes, all public school students will be required to take the test because the test is being used to assess college-readiness for the school system as a whole.  I contacted staff at the Connecticut State Department of Education and was told that students do not have the ability to opt out of taking the test.

How will we see the scores?

Just like with a national administration of the SAT, scores will be available online, and students will need to log in to their account on www.collegeboard.org.

Can we send these scores to colleges?

As with the regular SAT, you can choose to send these scores to up to 4 colleges.  You will most likely need to do that online through the collegeboard.org website, since most students will be registered in bulk by their school system.  You can go into your account and choose to send the score up until the deadline date–a date that is typically after the student has taken the exam, but before they have received the results.

Since the March 2nd SAT scores are going to be visible to colleges and can be determinate of merit scholarship awards, it behooves everyone to prepare for the in-school test the same as they would for the regular SAT national test.  So buy a study manual, go online and practice, contact a test prep service and/or take a practice test or two.   In other words, don’t just “wing it”.