Put down the number two pencils and pick up laptops, the SAT will now be completely virtual starting in 2024. 

The College Board announced on January 25th, 2022 that the SAT will no longer be taken with paper and pencil for three hours, but on student laptops for two hours. In addition, the questions will be more adaptive and the reading sections will be easier to comprehend. Students will also be given a calculator for the whole math section. It will still be scored on the same 1600 point scale. 

What is the SAT exactly? It’s a multiple choice exam that tests students’ college readiness. Usually this test score is sent to colleges along with students’ GPA and other credits. 

Over the past few years, colleges have made the SAT optional for students meaning that less and less students are taking the SAT each year. This means that The College Board is generating less revenue. Taking the SAT online will be much cheaper than on paper meaning The College Board will be cutting down on expenses and making up for all the lost revenue from students not taking the written exam.  

Along with less students taking the exam, less sites are able to administer the exam paper pencil. However, taking the exam online will make it more accessible and easier for students to access. 

“I would say it was tiring not just because you were worried about your grade but because you just wanted to get the test over with and be done.” Senior Grace Larow says.

The online test has seemed to solve this problem. Students who have taken the test have reported feeling less drained after taking the test.

“It doesn’t test your attention span the same way.” Thomas Jefferson High School student Christal Wang says. “You definitely don’t feel as strained.” 

This new test has raised questions about how to prepare for the new SAT. Though the College Board plans to release practice exams as everyone gets closer to the launch date, there is really no way to tell how the new test has changed until it is administered to all students in 2024.