Parent's Guide to the Digital SAT

The Burning Question: Should Your Child Take the New Digital SAT?

While College Board claims that the new digital SAT should be the same difficulty as before, the reality is that the test structure has fundamentally changed, and with these changes the amount of relevant practice materials has dramatically decreased.

So, before deciding how to help your child ace the digital SAT, you should ask: is this exam going to help my child?

Generally, students take the digital SAT exam, ACT exam, or skip the standardized testing step altogether since most colleges are now test-optional. Here are some factors to help you and your child make the right decision:

• Test-Blind Colleges: If your child is aiming for universities that are test-blind, such as the University of California or California State University school systems, they do not need to take the SAT. These institutions do not consider standardized test scores in admissions, so spending time and resources on the SAT is unnecessary.

  The only exception here is if your child is going for a National Merit Scholarship they will need to take the digital PSAT, which is almost identical to the digital SAT.

• Writing Skills and the Essay Component: If your child excels in writing essays, the ACT might be a better option. The digital SAT no longer includes an essay component, so students who shine in this area won't have the opportunity to showcase their skills on the SAT. The ACT, however, still includes an optional essay.

• Reading Preferences and Skills: The digital SAT is a good fit for children who are voracious readers, especially those with a strong grasp of English literature classics from the 1700s to 1950s. The SAT often includes challenging reading passages based on texts from this era, which could play to the strengths of students familiar with these works.

• Mathematical Strengths: For students who excel in math, particularly in areas like algebra, the SAT might be the preferable choice as it covers these topics in depth. However, if your child finds math challenging, consider the ACT or potentially skipping standardized testing altogether.

• Test-Taking Skills: Children who perform well on class exams, even without a deep understanding of the material, or those who have experienced rigorous test-taking in school, might find the SAT format more manageable. Their test-taking experience could give them an edge over students who are weaker at test-taking.

• Balancing GPA with Test Scores: If your child has strong English and math grades and sufficient time to dedicate to SAT preparation, taking the SAT could complement an already impressive GPA, presenting a well-rounded academic profile to colleges.

• Providing Additional Academic Data: For students with lower grades, taking the SAT or ACT can also be beneficial by providing another metric for colleges to assess their academic abilities, which might help balance out less-than-stellar grades.

Essential Information About the Exam

For those of you who aren't tiger parents, here's what you need to know about the digital SAT exam:

1. The exam takes 2 hours 14 minutes in total and is completely digital - the pen and paper version is gone for good

2. The exam consists of 4 modules - 2 Reading & Writing and 2 Math - and contains 98 questions in total (click here for more information on exam format)

3. There is no essay unless your state requires it and you take the exam through SAT School Day

4. The exam is adaptive, meaning the second module of each section can be either easy or hard depending on how you did on the first module. Despite College Board claiming students won't be disadvantaged, we found that students who get the easier second modules typically do not score well.

5. The exam is only offered a handful of times a year. Check the College Board registration page to make sure your child secures a spot in upcoming exam offerings.

Resources For Parents

Here is a list of resources we've compiled for parents - we update this list often so check back periodically!

1. College Board website - all changes to the SAT exam and other programs such as AP classes can be found here.

2. Parent's Guide to the Digital SAT - also from College Board.

3. Khan Academy Parents Guide to Official SAT Practice - Khan Academy is an official partner of College Board and has published their own guide for parents.

4. How to Help Your Child Study - a worthwhile read from the New York Times.