Say farewell to your #2 pencils. 

The PSAT & SAT will become 100% digital this school year. Whether this information is brand new to you, or something you’ve been anxiously anticipating since the announcement in early 2022, students & parents have many questions about what this means and how to prepare. 

Read on for a quick recap of what to expect, and learn our three test prep strategies to navigate the changes ahead– 

What is changing? 

While the exam will still be scored on a 1600 scale, a few key things are changing:

• The length of the exam: The exam will be reduced from 3 hours to 2 hours.
• The use of calculators: Calculators will now be permitted on all math questions.
• The length of reading passages: The new exam will use shorter passages with 1-2 questions.
• The exam will become adaptive: The digital SAT will be a responsive test, with subsequent question difficulty being determined by earlier responses. 
• The administration: The biggest change is that this fall, the PSAT for the class of 2025, 2026, & 2027 and all SAT exams offered from March, 2024 onward will be administered as digital exams to be taken on computers, tablets, or Chromebooks. Mac & PC are both fine, but phones will not be permitted. 

Take your preparation digital.

For 9th and 10th grade students, taking the PSAT will be a helpful component of your preparation, as it will expose you to the exact type of responsive digital exam structure and length that you will take when you register for the ‘real deal’ SAT. 

For all 9th-11th grade students who are interested in preparing for the new digital exam, you are best served by practicing in this format. The College Board has partnered with Bluebook to administer the digital SAT. You can download this app and learn more about how it works and the integrated tools for PSAT and SAT testing here on the College Board site. Once you’ve downloaded Bluebook, you will have access to test previews and full length practice exams.

Explore alternatives; colleges value the ACT & SAT equally.

For 11th grade students, looking to complete testing amidst these shifts, one option you may want to consider is to prepare for and take the ACT exam prior to March of 2024. Although the ACT has also announced initial pilots for digital testing, these pilots are small to start, and will not involve any changes to the exam format or length, so preparation will remain unchanged. Because of the similarities between the ACT and SAT, preparing for the ACT and testing in the late fall or early winter, will not only give a student ACT scores to consider submitting, but will contribute to better preparation for taking the SAT in the spring. And it’s really true: college admissions offices have no preference between SAT or ACT exams, they treat both equally in the review process. 

Consider waiting, just a bit. 

Another option for 11th graders to consider is waiting to take the exam in March when it goes digital. This gives you plenty of preparation time, and will enable you to focus on preparing for just one exam type. Unless a student has a special circumstance, there is no urgency to securing test scores in the fall of junior year. Planning for an SAT in March or April and then again in June or August can be a good approach that gets testing completed before the start of senior year and ensures a student has scores available for early October and November deadlines. 

TBU Advisors are experienced in supporting students to navigate their college choices and personal best fit; our passion is helping you make a plan that takes the overwhelm out of the process and empowers you to become your own best you. 

If you’d like to explore working with a TBU Advisor, get in touch here and we will look forward to connecting with you. 

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