Starting this week, prospective college students will take a new look at an entirely online SAT.
The new test has been reduced to two hours, with a shorter reading section. Students can complete the SAT on their own devices, and the new format will also offer tools including a graphing calculator and the ability to bookmark questions.
The changes were met with mixed emotions from USC students who took the test on paper.
Liam Casey, a sophomore studying public relations, shared concerns regarding the shift.
“I think it’s like putting a Band-Aid on a compound fracture,” Casey said. “I think society is realizing that standardized testing isn’t the best way of demonstrating knowledge and it’s very skewed towards people who can afford… tutoring.”
Casey, who did not take the SAT or ACT, said that there are parts of college applications that showcase a student’s ability and go beyond test scores.
“I’m not a great standardized test taker and I realized that I have a lot of strengths and like my application, my portfolio, but doing standardized tests just wasn’t going to be one of them,” Casey said. “SATs are like something you pay your way into a lot of people who do the best on their SATs are the people who pay for like thousands of dollars a week in tutoring.”
But students like Ty Kawamura, a junior studying economics, wondered how the new test could be secure while online.
“I think it’s going to bring about a lot of opportunities to cheat [or try] to fake the score a little more,” said Kawamura.
With the test moving online, it will be easier for the tests to be administered and grades will be received faster. The change to online comes as part of an effort to keep standardized testing relevant in an increasingly digital classroom environment.
Steven Mangandid, a freshman studying economics/mathematics, said he agrees with the decision to move online.
“I feel like moving forward, it would be the best decision to just put the test online because nowadays, almost all other forms of school media are being tested online,” Manganbid said. “So it doesn’t really make sense for the SAT to be a test on paper when you’re almost never willing to take the test on paper.”
The online format may yield an even more significant transition for students who require accommodations, according to a statement by Madison Shaw, assistant director of Policy, Programming and Evaluation at the Office of Student Accessibility Services (OSAS).
“The online format could be beneficial or detrimental to students depending on the nature of their disability,” Shaw said in a statement sent to Annenberg Media. “Students who have a condition that is exacerbated by blue light or screen time might have challenges taking an exam digitally. The digital exam format would also need to be accessible for those who have a visual impairment and need to use a screen reader.”
For online exams, the College Board will allow students to request accommodations for an extended time, human readers and technology assets — including an electronic magnifying machine, screen reader, speech-to-text and electronic calculators.
“I think it’s great that they’re evening the playing field for everyone,” Kawamura said. “If someone has a disability or they need extra assistance, it’s really good that they’re branching out and trying to make things even for them.”
Gwendolyn Smith, international relations major, says the change could help some students who receive accommodations, “for me, it would probably aid because I guess for context, I have like writing accommodations where I struggle to like, use a pencil so then it’s easier for me personally, to be able to click online.” She adds, “I think it could benefit potentially for reading because I have difficulty reading as well. So I feel like if you’re able to change the text, potentially, like text size or something on the screen, and that can be beneficial.”
Despite updating accessibility and the exams themselves, standardized tests are a hot topic of debate. Kawamura said he doubts their effectiveness as a metric of intelligence.
“It’s meaningless and pointless,” Kawamura said. “A lot of it is based on how much you can pay for a tutor. It’s not a test on how smart you are, it’s how much you know the test.”
Kawamura chose to take the ACT over the SAT. Even though he performed well, he said his experience was painful because of the months he spent studying and taking the test multiple times for a superscore.