Tag: SAT Classes

Every year at this time we hear a news story about colleges dropping their admissions test requirement.  This year, we added Le Moyne College and the University of Puget Sound to that list.  According to Fairtest.org, this lis has now grown to about 800 four-year colleges.  The question naturally arises: “Are college admission tests, such as the SAT, still relevant?”

The answer is the same as it is for many questions about the college admissions process: it depends.  From 2000 to 2013, the National Association for College Admissions Counseling’s Annual State of College Admission Report shows an almost identical percentage of colleges rating standardized admission test scores of “Considerable Importance.”  In both years 58% of respondents gave that answer.  What does that mean?  It means that the overall portion of schools who think that standardized tests matter has remained the same.

What is interesting to note, however, is that the majority of colleges [...]

The SAT test you took in high school remains one of the primary means by which institutions of

higher learning assess a student’s readiness for college.  However, that same SAT test is being dramatically redesigned. For one, it will now have a maximum score of 1600.  What’s that you say? The SAT test maximum score was always 1600.   Well almost.  Ten years ago, a written essay was added to the SAT and the maximum score was increased to 2400.  Other than reinstating the “old” 1600 score, the new SAT may be hard to recognize.

Future articles will describe 1) how the revised SAT is being brought into alignment with the Common Core standards being used throughout Connecticut’s schools and 2) how the new SAT test may replace the mandatory SBAC test currently administered to our 11th graders.  This article will focus on the structural changes to the test.

The new SAT actually more closely resembles [...]

By now, you may have heard that the SAT is going to change.  Just over one year from now the new test will be administered.  At some point within the next month, the college board will release full sample tests.  Back in January they released sample questions.  There are a number of changes that have the overall effect of making the SAT more similar to the current ACT.

• The score returns to being considered out of 1600 points

• The essay is optional

• There is no longer a “guessing penalty,” that is you will not get a ¼ deducted for a wrong answer

• There will be science and social science reading passages that require analysis.

• There will be a math section where a calculator is permissible and [...]