All about the new SATs

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Beginning in March, teens with college dreams will tackle a whole new SAT. The new exam will have substantial changes to the math and verbal sections – and for the first time will include a writing component.

The new exam will make its first debut on March 12, 2005. According to the College Board, which produces the SAT and test-prep materials, the new SAT will reflect the higher level learning expected in most high schools today.
The SAT (short for Scholastic Aptitude Test) is widely believed to be a good indicator of how well students will do with college-level learning. For this reason, most four-year colleges and universities — including those in the SUNY system — require that applicants take and report their scores on the SATs.

What the new SAT will include
The new test has three sections: math, critical reading (formerly the verbal section) and a new writing section. Here is a look at each section: 

Math: The new math section will have fewer “quantitative comparisons” (problems where students compare equations in “column A” and “column B” and decide which is larger) and more higher-level math (Algebra II). Students will be given more time to complete this section. 

Critical Reading: In this portion of the new SAT, students will read brief passages (100 to 200 words) and answer multiple-choice questions about them. Gone from this section are analogies — test questions that ask students to figure out the relationships between phrases or terms, such as “bird is to nest” as “beaver is to dam.”

Writing: The new SAT essay question is designed to show how well students use writing to express their thoughts and support their ideas about a topic in a limited amount of time. The writing section will also include multiple-choice questions on improving sentences and paragraphs and identifying grammar errors. 

Scoring: Each of the three sections will now be worth 200 to 800 points. The maximum a student can score is 2,400 vs. 1,600 on the old test. 

Price: The cost of taking the new SAT will be about $41.50 — an increase of $10-12 over what is charged for the current exam. 

The PSAT/NMSQT is changing too
A new version of the PSAT/NMSQT, the test that many sophomores and juniors take as a warm-up to the SAT, was given for the first time this past October.
Though similarly revised, the PSAT does not include a writing section or Algebra II questions, in part because most sophomores and juniors will not have yet taken enough of this higher-level math to do well with these questions.

Should every teen take the SAT?
Any teen that plans to apply to a four-year college should take the SAT tests -— as well as the PSAT/NMSQT.

Though many community colleges and vocational programs do not require the SAT, this doesn’t mean that teens heading to two-year schools shouldn’t bother with the exam. Many of these students end up transferring to a four-year school. Moreover, a teen’s SAT scores may be solid enough to put him or her in line for a scholarship or acceptance at a school they thought was out of their reach. 

Students in the class of 2006, this year’s juniors, will generally be the first group of teens to take the new SAT.

Seniors graduating this June who are taking the SAT for the first time, or who plan to retake the test to try to improve their scores, should check with the colleges where they are applying before deciding which version of the test they should take. Though colleges may take scores from either test, some may prefer to see results from the new SAT since it includes the writing assessment. Either way, it’s important to know that the current version of the SAT will be administered for the last time on January 22, 2005.

For more information or to register for an SAT exam date, visit the College Board Web site at www.collegeboard.org.

Prepping for the new test 
Here are some suggestions that can help teens do their best with the new version of the SAT:

Read. Much of the SAT involves reading. For this reason, teens that are avid readers (of both fiction and non-fiction) will do better with the exam. 

Write. New York students from kindergarten through high school have lots of opportunity to hone their writing skills as they practice for state exams. Teens will do better on the writing section of the SAT if they are able to clearly state and support an opinion with real-life examples and can use good grammar and punctuation.

Take higher-level math classes. The new SAT will include questions from Algebra II. For this reason, students that challenge themselves and tackle higher-level math in high school (courses leading beyond the basic “Math A” Regents graduation requirement) are likely to do better with this section of the test. 

Practice. Taking the time to become familiar with the format of the test will help ease test anxiety. It can also show teens which skills they may need to work on. There are many SAT-prep classes, on-line tutorials and workbooks to help in teens prepare for the SATs. Since all three sections of the test are timed, taking the practice exams under timed conditions can also help teens get a feel for how quickly they need to work through a section in order to finish the bulk of the questions. 

SAT IIs: Should your teen take these tests?
Once called “achievement tests,” the SAT II: Subject Tests are a roster of lesser-known exams offered by the College Board. 

Guidance counselors say that fewer colleges require the SAT IIs than once did. This may be because more students are taking Advanced Placement courses, which give a more complete picture of a student’s ability to handle college-level material than a single exam. 
But some of the more competitive colleges still ask for certain SAT IIs, most frequently the writing exam or any math or science exam (specific requirements can be found in each college’s catalogue or Web site.) Often, colleges use SAT II scores to place entering freshmen into appropriate courses. 

SAT I and II exams cannot be taken on the same day. In fact, the time to take some SAT IIs may be long before teens know which colleges they will apply to. For example, students with strong science skills may take the Biology SAT II and/or the Chemistry SAT II in June of the year they are taking those subjects, typically their sophomore and junior years. 

When registering for any of the SAT IIs with the College Board, check the box for Score Choice™. This puts a “hold” on that specific SAT II score, meaning the score will be sent to your teen but not to any colleges. When teens are ready to apply to college, they can select their best SAT II scores and have the College Board send them along with their SAT I scores to the colleges they indicate. 

Talk with your teen’s guidance counselor or go to the College Board Web site, www.collegeboard.org, for more information and registration deadlines for these tests.