Taking the SAT in March? No need to sharpen a pencil

Over nearly a century, millions of American high school students have sharpened pencils and cracked open pamphlets to take the SAT. But this spring, they can leave the pencils at home. Starting next month, the College Board's exam will only be available digitally, as U.S. students join their international peers, who moved to the digital exam last year.

What's different in the digital SAT?

The new test will also be significantly shorter and give students more time to answer each question. High schoolers, however, report mixed emotions about the new format.

"We talk about it all the time," said Ellie Mancini, a high school junior. "Some of us like it better online. Some of us don't want it at all. But I think a lot of us just want to get it over with."

Mancini plans to take the SAT for the first time this May. She doesn't plan to do any formal preparation ahead of the exam, but she did take the Preliminary SAT, or the PSAT, digitally in the fall. She said she would have preferred the option of taking it on paper.

"I think it's kind of ridiculous to have to do math online and do it in your head, or do it on a scrap piece of paper," Mancini said.

The test itself has also gone through major shifts. Reading passages are much shorter, a calculator can be used for the entire duration of the math portion and the total testing time has shrunk from three hours to two. Students have the choice to use a tablet or a laptop.

The new version is adaptive, meaning questions change depending on how the student performs as the test progresses. This also increases test security, since every test is unique. Priscilla Rodriguez, who oversees the SAT and PSAT divisions at the College Board, highlighted this as a major benefit of the digital exam compared with its paper predecessor. 

Adaptive testing makes the test shorter which Rodriguez said brings "the stress levels down for students." Students taking the digital exam "feel like they were able to show what they've learned in reading, writing and math and not show how quickly they can answer questions," she said.

Junior Olivia Padro, who used a tablet to take the digital PSAT, said she preferred the digital version to pencil and paper, especially an on-screen indicator saying how much time remained.

"Instead of me looking up at my teacher every five seconds to know how much time I have left in the session, it was all provided for me on my iPad," said Padro, 16. "So I knew how much I had to pace myself."

How will the digital SAT work?

Students have two sign-up options: They can register ahead of time through the College Board website and take the test at a designated Saturday location, or if their school offers "SAT School Day" they can reach out to their principal or counselor to take the test during school hours on a designated weekday.

Some students who took the digital PSAT fell victim to technical difficulties. Start time was delayed by about one hour for Padro and her classmates in Staten Island, New York, after what the College Board called "a surge in traffic on the application" affected schools in the eastern U.S.

"It was a painful lesson to learn. And one we took really seriously," said Rodriguez. "But we don't anticipate any issues like that going forward."

And College Board needed to figure out how students without stable wireless internet could take the exam. 

"The student needs to be connected to Wi-Fi at the moment that they start the test and at the moment they finish and really in between they don't have to," said Rodriguez, which minimizes the amount of bandwidth the test uses.

To address concerns about access, especially in rural areas, College Board connected with schools ahead of the PSAT. Only eight schools needed more bandwidth to support the exam, and they were sent additional routers. 

Students who don't have access to a laptop or tablet can apply through the College Board for a device to be delivered to their testing location.

While Rodriguez told CBS News the College Board is prepared to provide a device to every student who is unable to get one through other means, a disclaimer on the College Board website reads: "Submitting a request does not guarantee that College Board will provide you with a loaned testing device."

How can students prepare to take the SAT online?

Anna Cantirino, who coordinates test preparation programs for the nonprofit Student Sponsor Partners which in part provides SAT tutoring to low-income students, said she believes getting comfortable with the digital format may take time for some students.

"This year may be a little rocky," said Cantirino. "I don't think it will make a difference on how a student will perform once they become familiar with it." 

Lisa Speransky, the founder and CEO of Ivy Tutors Network, also said test familiarity can heavily impact a student's score. She recommends students complete the SAT practice tests online. 

"If you're taking a digital test, prepare digitally," said Speransky. "It's such a completely different experience to sit there with paper and then to do the tests online, so you really want to be preparing the way that you take the test."

The College Board offers four full-length digital practice test options on the same app that students will use when they sit for the SAT. It also has a partnership offering free SAT prep through Khan Academy.

What about the ACT?

The ACT is also opening up a digital testing option for U.S. students; however, students can choose to take either the digital or a paper version. The content will remain the same regardless of the test format and students opting to take the digital version will be provided with a computer at their testing location. Its nationwide launch comes after a pilot program in December with 5,000 students. CEO Janett Godwin said the server is prepared to handle hundreds of thousands of students on testing days.

"I'm not going to pretend that there won't ever be any issues because it is technology and stuff does happen, but we feel very confident in the testing that we've performed," Godwin said.

Godwin said ACT is waiting to see the response to this new format before making any movement toward digital-only testing.

"We think over time, more and more students are going to want to choose that online experience. But we're going to offer both for a period of time just to help people get used to the different options," Godwin said.

Keeping a paper version available also addresses concerns about internet connectivity. Godwin says in testing locations and schools where there isn't the bandwidth to support a digital exam, paper tests will be provided.

"Another reason why we're leaving a paper option is to make sure that we're not leaving out any schools from having the opportunity to offer the ACT to students in their area. Because there are still some pockets in the U.S. where bandwidth is an issue," Godwin said.

If students are unsure which exam they should take, Speransky, advises taking practice tests for both the SAT and ACT in their preferred formats and comparing the results.

 "We want students to be focused on the test that they have the highest starting score in," Speransky said.

Padro plans to take both the SAT and the ACT digitally.

"It keeps my options open, and it can never hurt to just try both," said Padro. "I don't think pen and paper would be necessary. I feel like it would be okay for me to just do it online."

In:
• College Board

Aubrey Gelpieryn

Aubrey Gelpieryn is a producer with CBS News Streaming.

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