Changes to the SAT: No More Essay + Subject Tests!
The College Board announces that they will be working on an online version of the SAT
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Latest News from the College Board
On January 19, 2021, the College Board announced that the Essay section of the SAT as well as SAT Subject Tests (previously known as SAT IIs) will no longer be offered - a significant and very unexpected change for many.
So why were these changes made?
After the 2016 SAT redesign, the essay became optional. Many students opted out, and although all eight Ivies started out requiring the essay portion, each slowly let go of that mandate which set the scene for the rest of the U.S. colleges and universities. Because of this shift away from the essays in the past years, we’re not surprised to see the CollegeBoard do away with it completely.
The dropping of the SAT Subject Tests, however, is HUGE. Our educated guess is that the CollegeBoard is expecting to make up all of the lost revenue from SAT Subject tests in AP test revenue (as they own the APs as well). We personally have noticed an upward trend in AP test-taking, and if Subject Tests are no longer offered, it’s likely that AP tests will hold much more importance.
An Online SAT
Another announcement the CollegeBoard made is that they will be trying to create an online SAT. This is not new - they attempted to create an online test at the beginning of the pandemic, but after the chaos of the online AP tests, the CollegeBoard realized they simply did not have the ability to pull something successful together soon enough. It looks like they may have been working on this, though, and are seriously planning to administer some SATs online in the future.
Unfortunately, there are a few issues we see with an online test. First of all, it has been proven that reading comprehension is far lower on a screen than on paper - which has obvious consequences on a student’s performance on a test like this. Secondly, without the ability to mark up the test, write notes in the margins, etc., (which our personal strategies rely on heavily for a good reason!) students may find themselves unable to comprehend the material as before. This also brings up questions of equity: students from better-resourced schools are more likely to know how to use scratch paper and other material to their advantage, as well as being more likely to have reliable internet and technology which has been a recurring theme throughout this entire pandemic.
We will definitely be keeping an eye on the online test to see what developments are made, but in the meantime, we hope our students enjoy the freedom from the essay portion and the SAT Subject Tests! Stay tuned for more information on college admissions updates on our website: https://www.socraticsummeracademy.com/blog.
For more information about changes to the SAT and ACT, read this article! Wondering if the SAT matters to colleges? Check out our tips here and here!
