The Difference Between the New SAT and the Old SAT
Now that the school year has come to a close, students have more free time. With all the extra hours, it seems like they can spend more time relaxing and recovering from all their homework and tests. However, summer is a great time to get acquainted with extra-curricular pursuits that will prove useful for the upcoming school year and for future college admission applications. And while there are many things to consider, one key decision is which college admission test you should take and begin studying for this summer.
While there are a few choices when it comes to college admission tests, let’s focus on the SAT. College Board, the company that develops and administers the SAT Reasoning and Subject Tests, has recently announced that the SAT will come in a new format starting March 2016. For the longest time, the details of the change were shrouded in mystery, but here at Berkeley2 Academy, we have been able to gather the important facts about this change. In the cheat sheet provided, you can see how the Old SAT and New SAT compare and contrast.
NUMBER OF SECTIONS
OLD SAT: 9 sections, including essay
NEW SAT: 4 sections, essay optional
NUMBER OF QUESTIONS
OLD SAT: 170 questions
NEW SAT: 154 questions
TIME LIMIT
OLD SAT: 4 hours
NEW SAT: 3 hours
READING + WRITING SCORE
OLD SAT: Reading: 200-800; Writing: 200-800
NEW SAT: Reading + Writing: 200-800
MATH SCORE
OLD SAT: M: 200-800
NEW SAT: M: 200-800
ESSAY SCORE
OLD SAT: Essay: 0-12, accounts for 30% of Writing score
NEW SAT: Essay: 0-12, not part of Writing score
PENALTIES
OLD SAT: -1/4 points for a wrong answer
NEW SAT: No penalties for wrong answers
CALCULATOR USE
OLD SAT: ALL of test
NEW SAT: SOME of test
SAT CR--TIME LIMIT
OLD SAT: Three sections: 25 minutes, 25 minutes, and 20 minutes
NEW SAT: One section: 65 minutes
SAT CR--PASSAGES
OLD SAT: Short, Medium, Long, Paired
NEW SAT: Medium, Long, Paired
SAT CR--QUESTIONS
OLD SAT: Sentence Completion and Passages
NEW SAT: Passages
SAT CR--VOCABULARY
OLD SAT: A lot of high-level vocabulary
NEW SAT: Some high-level vocabulary
SAT WR--TIME LIMIT
OLD SAT: Two sections: 35 minutes and 10 minutes
NEW SAT: One section: 35 minutes
SAT WR--PASSAGES/QUESTIONS
OLD SAT: Sentence correction, error identification, and passage revision
NEW SAT: Passage revision
SAT WR--GRAMMAR FOCUS
OLD SAT: Pronouns, Subject-Verb Agreement, Tenses, Parallelism, Comparisons, Adjective/Adverbs, Idioms, Diction, Sentence Construction
NEW SAT: All Old SAT grammar content + Punctuation, Paragraph Construction, and Graphics Usage
SAT ESSAY--TIME LIMIT
OLD SAT: One section: 25 minutes
NEW SAT: One section: 50 minutes
SAT ESSAY--QUESTIONS/PROMPTS
OLD SAT: Question on abstract topic that requires you to write a persuasive essay using literary and historical examples that you choose
NEW SAT: You review an article provided and write an essay that analyzes the article’s argument and evidence
SAT MATH--TIME LIMIT
OLD SAT: Three sections: 25 minutes, 25 minutes, 20 minutes
NEW SAT: Two sections: 25 minutes and 55 minutes
SAT MATH--QUESTIONS/LEVEL
OLD SAT: Mathematics up to Algebra II, including Geometry and basic Statistics
NEW SAT: Mathematics up to Algebra II, including Geometry, basic Statistics, and basic Trigonometry
For some students, they will not be able to choose Old SAT or New SAT; however, others will get to make a choice. By using this cheat sheet, you can ask yourself, “Do I take the Old SAT in Fall 2015/Winter 2016 or do I wait for the new test in Spring 2016?” While it may not make for the most adventurous summer, thinking about what test you will take and knowing about the new changes will help pave the way for an excellent life journey.
(image credit: editions.lib.umn.edu)
