CHARLOTTE, N.C. — We are in the middle of SAT testing season and gone are the days of number two pencils and filling-in ovals.
WCNC Charlotte is helping you get ahead this year with what students and parents need to know about the new digital SAT this year.
The SAT has moved from the traditional paper and pencil to a digital format. Administrators say the test will be easier to give, easier to take, and more relevant.
Shawn Patel, the founder and CEO of Prep Expert joins WCNC Charlotte with the changes we can expect this year.
"For the first time, in almost 100 years, the sat is going digital," Patel said.
Patel said it's going to be the same test we’ve seen in the past but with some key changes.
"It's going to be a much shorter exam. So it's only 98 questions. Back when I took the sat and probably when a lot of parents listening to this took this 80 it used to be 150 to 200 questions. So it's almost half the number of questions," Patel said.
The math section of the SAT will also look different this year, Patel said students can now use a calculator.
"In the old paper-based SAT there used to be a no calculator section. So that's gone," Patel said.
One of the biggest changes? Patel said the test will now be adaptive, meaning the better you do, the harder the questions you will get. And if you do worse, the questions will become easier.
"If they don't score well, they'll see easier questions, but it'll limit how high they can score on the digital last," Patel said.
Patel said this change from paper and pencil to digital was only a matter of time.
"Students are so accustomed to learning online, everyone's accustomed to working online," Patel explained.
More major universities are now reinstating the SAT requirements that were abandoned during COVID-19, and Patel said this will actually benefit low-income and underprivileged students the most.
"And that's very counterintuitive to what most people would have thought," Patel said. But if you think about it, it actually makes sense. Because if you get rid of standardized test scores, what are you going to value more typically, it's going to be extracurricular activities."
WCNC Charlotte's Where's The Money series is all about leveling the playing field in the Carolinas by helping others and breaking down barriers. WCNC Charlotte doesn't want our viewers to be taken advantage of, so we’re here to help. Watch previous stories where we ask the question “Where’s the Money” in the YouTube playlist below and subscribe to get updated when new videos are uploaded.