by Chloe Jordan | feature editor
The SAT will be administered in paper-pencil form on Wednesday, March 23 for juniors only. Students taking the exam will need to arrive at 8:45 to get to their assigned classrooms, displayed on posters around the school.
“You will need to bring two number two pencils. I would suggest bringing a snack, maybe a water, something like that with you, and your school ID,” CCMR Specialist Tenley Barrow said. “You should always bring your school ID or driver’s license anytime you take the SAT, whether it be during school hours or on a SAT Saturday – you have to have that. A lot of students forget to bring those and you need to have it, in order to test. It’s a security issue.”
The SAT will test on the material from math, writing, and reading that students have accumulated during high school. According to Barrow, the primary reason the SAT is important is because it provides college scholarships, since College Board reviews SAT scores.
“Students can prepare by going on to Khan Academy, an online, free resource. You can find Kahoot, that’s through the Launchpad on the library resources,” Barrow said. “We just received the SAT study guide booklets, and they’re at the Welcome Center at that main table – those are good to look at. I also posted some things in the Google Classroom that you guys can click on links to take you to those things.”
Barrow encourages those taking the SAT to study on their own and get rest the night before the exam, and notes that although the SAT has been optional to apply to colleges in the past two years, colleges are returning to requiring those scores for admissions. There will also be an apparent change in the way the SAT is administered for the year after next year.
“Digital. I’m excited, because it’ll be an hour shorter. It’s supposedly going to be easier for proctors to administer and easier for students, because the questions are just easier and shorter,” Barrow said. “We’re going to be providing the computers and things like that, so that part will look different. And the calculators they use will be on the computer, so you won’t have to have that, so that will be nice.”
Students like junior Riley Guedea understand that different sections of the test can be more difficult, because of its cumulative nature. Some students express concern that they only remember the material they are currently learning.
“The reading, English part last year – I had that part down,” Guedea said. “I mainly struggled with math because I remember the stuff I’m currently being taught, and I’m currently being taught pre-cal, trigonometry stuff. So, everything else I totally forgot about and was not prepared for – I guessed on all that stuff.”
According to senior Natirina Pangelinan, who took the SAT three times, the grading scale of the test has changed from a 1440 to 1500. She also believes the test is significant for colleges to search for students.
“It’s important, especially because of the College Board thing, where they send out your information, it makes your life easier because colleges find you, rather than you trying to figure out where to go, ” Pangelinan said.
For more SAT practice, visit https://www.khanacademy.org/sat.
