SAT season strikes

by Marianna Brogna, junior literary editor

It is that time of the year again – sleepless nights, 10-pound Standardized Admissions Test prep books and eyestrain. It is time for students to take their SATs for college.

As it has been addressed, the SAT has changed significantly this past year. One major change is the scoring. The old SAT was scored out of 2400 points, whereas the new one is being scored out of 1600 points. The new SAT has been administered since earlier this month.

There has also been a change in the amount of time that is given for each section. Students that took the old SAT were given 3 hours and 45 minutes to finish the test and a mandatory essay. Now, they have 3 hours and 50 minutes, with an optional essay. If students wish to take the test with an essay there will be a charge of an extra 11 dollars.

“It was very tedious and annoying when I took it back in January. It seemed like the same section repeated like 5 times. It was very annoying,” junior Kailey Bosyk said.

Another significant change would be that there is no penalty for guessing. Even if a student guessed an incorrect answer, he or she will not get points deducted from the final score. In the old SAT, ¼ of a point was taken off for every wrong answer.

Also, the new SAT can be administered on computers, instead of being limited to only the paper and pencil option. This change is for students with writing disabilities.

“I took an actual testing program, and they gave me a book for the new SAT. They tried to prepare me as best as they could, but even they didn’t know everything that would be on it. I think I would have been better prepared if I knew some material prior. Also, the essays didn’t really make sense to me,” junior Melanie Liapis said.

Starting March 19th, Kaplan is administering SAT prep classes in the school. This will help better prepare students for the exam in May.