The New Digital SAT: How Will it Affect International Students?
As someone who largely works with international students, I wasn’t overjoyed when I heard that international SAT exams would be completely digital beginning in March of 2023. My head filled with memories of issues that students had from when the international ACT exam went digital in late 2018, and I wondered what this College Board announcement would mean.
While I won’t really know until the first student cohort experiences the digital SAT, here are my thoughts on the relevant changes and what they mean:
More test dates - international locations will get two additional test dates per year. I hope that this means an end to international students feeling disenfranchised by having fewer opportunities to take the exam. It could also result in lower expenditures as students will likely stop traveling abroad to try “one last time” for a better score on a more convenient date.
Test date flexibility – a digital exam is easier to administer and allows for more flexibility. While this sounds like a good thing, if school-based test centers decide to administer the exam during school (as the College Board is encouraging them to do), it would make it harder for international students who are home-schooled or attend schools that are not test centers to register for and take an exam. In the end, it may be more limiting.
Students can use their own device – laptops, tablets, or devices issued by the test center will be allowed. Letting students use their own devices seems easier than insisting that test centers provide them for everyone registered at their site. A student’s own device will be familiar and, ideally, they will have used Khan Academy’s free prep materials to gain familiarity with the new format ahead of time. However, students don’t always have access to a device and asking a test center to provide one, as required by College Board, is often easier in theory than in practice.
A shorter exam - the test will be shortened from three hours to two hours and there is more time per question. This seems less stressful and College Board reported that a majority of test students found this to be true. That being said, College Board’s own research suggests that students who are stronger in a language other than English perform better on the reading sections of paper and pencil versions of the SAT. Non-native English-speakers might not benefit from this change.
A section-adaptive test –- how well a student does on section one will determine the difficulty for section two. While this makes the exam dynamic and should limit cheating, it also means that the first section will decide how high a student can score. If a student is having an off-day and doesn’t excel at that first section, they might never achieve the score they were aiming for.
Here is my advice for international students applying to enter university in 2024:
Relax! – a largely test-optional admission climate has given more control to students. Yes, a high score will almost certainly advantage a student, but if a student isn’t a strong test-taker they can focus their efforts on other areas of their application.
Try it – I encourage students to prep and do their best. If the result is a low score, and the student feels they will not be able to make the necessary improvement, they can stop testing and move on to more important things like getting strong grades and participating in fulfilling activities.
When to start – some students will want to take a paper-based exam between August and December of 2022, while others don’t even have the format change on their radar. Is there a rush? There is something to be said for going with the devil you know. If you think a paper-based test makes more sense, prep now and take a paper-based exam this year. If the digital format sounds better for you, you can relax and wait until 2023. As with anything, it’s an individual decision.
College Board seems to have prepared for every eventuality during the international rollout of the digital SAT. With an 11-page “Digital SAT Irregularity Chart”, I hope that they – and students - are ready for the new format.