The SAT has always been taken on paper, however, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, Banneker Juniors, class of 2025, took the first digital version of the SAT. The SAT is a multiple-choice exam aimed at predicting college readiness among high school students. The test scores are used to help make admission decisions. Many universities look at students’ scores in addition to their grades, extracurricular activities, recommendation letters, and essays.

The new changes to the standardized test includes a new digital format, shorter test time and an embedded graphing calculator. The exam time went from three hours to just two. In addition, proctors no longer have to deal with packing, organizing, and shipping test materials. The questions have also become more concise. Lengthy reading passages were replaced with shorter versions. Only one question, rather than multiple, is tied to each reading. For the math section, there is a calculator allowed for the entire math segment.

The juniors at Banneker were helped to prepare for the new version of SAT. Starting in January, juniors had to arrive at school at 7:30 in the morning three times per week to prepare for the new version of the test. They had to join a Zoom meeting and participate in review activities using polls and online chats.

Junior students Jade Martin and Isabel Alvarez both said that they prefer the paper and pencil test because “the timer in the digital test was distracting, and we prefer to write and annotate on the paper version.” Students have been taking mostly paper and pencil tests, and shifting to digital testing can be difficult. Alvarez said that the digital SAT is “shorter, but difficult to adapt.”

The traditional paper and pencil format is no longer available. The changes to the standardized test have been adapting to societal changes demanding the modern format and that students are ready and eager to enter a new electronic era.