It's not your mom and dad's SAT anymore. It's not even your older sibling's SAT anymore. The venerable college entrance exam has undergone a total makeover, and the early reviews are in: she looks better than ever.
“I do like the changes," said Marcia Hunt, director of college counseling at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale. “I think students are going to find this much more connected to what they're learning every day in the classroom."
Remember all those obscure vocabulary words on the old SAT?
"Those are gone, so it'll reflect more on the vocabulary you're actually having in your English classes," explained Ana Farrand, college advisor at Coral Glades High School, to a group of students who were preparing for the test.
Another big change: "You are no longer penalized for guessing on the SAT," Farrand said.
The new test has two sections, one for math and one for reading and writing. The maximum score goes back to the old 1600 point standard. It has an optional essay, much less geometry, more algebra, and none of the hated analogies which terrorized generations of high school kids.
“I think that they've tried to take the trickiness out of this test, I think they're not trying to trick kids into making wrong answers, I really think this is going to benefit the greater part of the population," Hunt said.
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Obviously, the test is drastically revamped. The question is, what is the best way for students to prepare now to give them the best chance of acing the SAT when it is given in the spring? One step is to take advantage of the deal forged between the College Board and Khan Academy.org and use the website's free SAT tutoring.
"This partnership with Khan Academy is an effort to level the playing field, it's no longer the haves and the have-nots who can do test prep, it's for students of all socioeconomic groups," said Hunt.
Local school districts began preparing for the new SAT a couple of years ago by emphasizing subjects they knew would be featured on the redesigned exam.
“I most certainly do share the opinion that the new SAT is going to allow all students to demonstrate their ability to apply knowledge and that's really what we want our students to be able to do," said Dan Gohl, the chief academic officer of Broward County Public Schools. He says every level of the school system is engaged in building up the capabilities of students to do well on the college entrance test.
"Elementary school students must become masters of arithmetic, in middle school they must know proportions, and by the time they take the SAT in their junior year, they must know algebra very well, we are emphasizing the subjects that students are expected to know so they can maximize their ability to demonstrate their readiness for college," explained Gohl.
Hunt advises high school students to take the most challenging courses they can take, saying those classes are good preparation for the new SAT. She also points out that the more practice tests students take, which they can download on the College Board website, the better those kids tend to do on the exam. If the School Board approves it, Broward Schools will have an "SAT Day". The idea is to have every high school junior take the SAT on the same day, at school, to get a baseline idea of each student's strengths and weaknesses. If they don't do well, it won't count against them. Students would still be able to take it as many times as they want after SAT Day.
The College Board is also making the SAT more accessible for low-income families. Every student who receives free or reduced-price lunch can take the test twice without paying a fee, and those students can also apply to four universities of their choice free of charge.
