Attention all underclassmen! Your SAT’s starting in 2024 will be completely online! Tests will now take place in testing centers and be reduced from three hours to two hours. According to The New York Times, “College Board will also allow calculators on the entire math section, shorten reading passages and reflect a wider range of topics.” With this transition to a completely digital test, questions have arisen regarding the purpose of the SAT.

Prior to the pandemic, an increasing number of universities shut down the requirement of using the SAT for college admissions. According to Fair Test: National Center for Fair & Open Testing, a nonprofit critical of the SAT, 80% of the roughly 2,300 four-year colleges aren’t requiring the exam for high school students in the graduating class of 2022. Back in 2016, CollegeBoard already made significant changes to the exam, including making the essay portion optional. Because of this, colleges can now be more observant of individual academic achievements and other areas of their performance.

However, numerous aspects of the SAT are staying the same, like testing locations. Students will continue to take the exam at an educational institution or testing center and not in their own homes. On the day of the exam, if students do not have a computer of their own to take the test, the College Board will provide a loaner. Students have more opportunities to take the exam of more relevance and interest due to these changes. The new format of the SAT will completely change and come into effect in 2024 for U.S students and 2023 for international students.