In this era, where everything is going digital, how can the entrance examinations stay behind?

These days, every other student opts for some form of digital learning or the other. The assessment also becomes pretty much easy for the supervisors in the digital learning set up.

As a result, the College board decided to take the final step and enter into the digital generation, changing the Paper based SAT exam in a New digital Avatar, making it easier for every other student from around the world to be able to take the exam with more convenience, and with a few changes here and there.

However, the biggest change is certainly the digital format of the exam, where the students would be required to solve their paper on their laptop or tablet.

Well, we do understand your apprehension as an aspirant who wishes to study abroad and fulfill your wishes of getting admitted to the best universities and colleges abroad. And therefore, in this blog, we would be discussing everything that you need to know about the New Digital SAT exam, right from its duration, when and how, and even the benefits of this new digital avatar.

The Administration of the all New Digital SAT exam

The New SAT exam would be administered from March 2023 for all the International students. Then the PSAT would be administered in October 2023 for all the International students. And finally for the US students, the SAT would be administered from spring 2024.

The changes in the New Digital SAT exam

With the new digital avatar, the new SAT exam brings along a lot of important changes. As an aspirant it is very important for you to know all these changes and make the necessary changes to your preparation strategy.

Duration of the exam

As opposed to the previous exam paper based exam which was conducted over 3 hours of time, the New Digital SAT exam would now be conducted for 2 hours precisely. This reduction in duration of the exam comes along as a result of the changes made to the various sections as you would see below.

Changes in the various sections

The following changes are made in the 2 main sections of the SAT exam:

The Reading and Writing subsections are now combined into just one section. The score range remains the same for this section however. 

Also, there would be fewer passages and one question for each passage.

The Math Section would now only be the one with the use of a calculator.  A graphic calculator would be present in the digital testing app.

Score Assessment and Release Time

As opposed to the previous SAT exam pattern, where the results used to take months sometimes to arrive, the score results of the new digital SAT exam would be announced in a matter of a few days only.

Benefits of the Digital SAT Exam

• The first and the foremost benefit is that it will streamline all the processes, especially the assessment of the papers.
• The number of attempts for international students is 7 times in a year now.
• Every test paper would be individual for every candidate to avoid any sort of cheating in the exam.
• The digital format comes with tools such as a built in clock and a built in calculator for the convenience of the students.
• Also, the digital SAT exam is of a shorter duration, helping students to focus more efficiently and appear for the exam more productively. Also, the students feel less stressed.
• Flagging of questions is possible, where the students can revisit the questions at a later point in time.
• Early announcement of results makes it possible for students to reappear and still meet college specified deadlines. 

Preparation Tips for the Digital SAT Exam

Now, when it comes to preparing for the digital SAT exam, you certainly don’t have to worry about the subjects, as they are still the same and you would be assessed for your knowledge and skills for your reading, writing and Mathematics abilities.

However, here a few tips to help you prepare for the digital SAT exam in the best way possible:

Reading section: It is really important to prepare yourself by reading a lot of newspapers and articles, such as the Washington post, New York Times, Economists, etc. Also, to score higher in this section, you would have to really work hard on developing opinions rather than simply being a passive reader. Be more analytical in your perspective.

Writing Section: you will definitely have to be more careful with things such as punctuation and grammar.

Math section: Better know your formulae, theorems and facts properly with the reason rather than simply mugging them. Practice is definitely your savior in this case. The more you solve math problems, the better and easier for you to appear for the main SAT digital exam with more confidence.

At Eduquest institute, you will get more tips in depth about how to prepare correctly for the new digital SAT without any fear.