On Saturday, March 9, 2024, the SAT is going digital for American test-takers the first time in almost 100 years! Two million students take the SAT every year, and the transition from a paper-based to digital format marks a huge change to the college entrance exam.
The new 2024 Digital SAT will be unlike any previous paper-based SAT exam. Here are a few of the key differences:
(1) Digital Platform
The Digital SAT will be administered on the College Board’s Bluebook app. This is a testing platform that will allow students to take the Digital SAT online. However, students will not take the SAT at home. Instead, parents still need to sign up their child for a test date to take the Digital SAT at an approved testing center just as they did for the old, paper-based SAT. Students will have the option to take the Digital SAT on their own laptop or use a device from the testing center.
(2) Adaptive Testing
The Digital SAT is adaptive. However, the Digital SAT is not like many adaptive standardized tests such as the GMAT or the GRE that get harder or easier based on your answer to the previous question. Instead, the Digital SAT adapts module by module, not question by question. This means the second module’s difficulty level is based on your performance in the first module. If you perform well in the first module (on either SAT Reading and Writing or SAT Math), the second module related to that subject will present more difficult questions. This will give you the opportunity to attain a higher score overall. Conversely, if you perform poorly in the first module (on either SAT Reading and Writing or SAT Math), the second module related to that subject will present less difficult questions. This will limit your opportunity to achieve a higher score overall.
(3) New Question Types
There are many new question types on the Digital SAT that were not on the previous paper-based SAT exam. These include the following:
- The SAT Writing section now includes “Rhetorical Synthesis” questions that measure a student’s ability to selectively extract information from bullet point notes to achieve a writing goal.
- The SAT Reading section now includes “Command of Evidence” questions that measure a student’s ability to use both written and numerical data to draw conclusions.
- The SAT Math section now includes “Probability and conditional probability” questions that had previously been removed on the paper-based SAT.
Shaan Patel is the Founder and CEO of Prep Expert.
To get ready for the Digital SAT, here are 4 free resources you can use to prepare:
(1) College Board Bluebook App
Download the College Board’s testing app at https://bluebook.collegeboard.org. This application contains multiple full-length College Board practice SAT exams that contain official test questions.
(2) Khan Academy’s Website
Visit the Khan Academy’s official website at https://khanacademy.org. Navigate to the section of the website that is dedicated to “Digital SAT.” Here you will find College Board SAT questions that you potentially have not seen before.
(3) College Board’s Website
Visit the College Board’s official website: https://www.collegeboard.org/. Navigate to the section of the website that is dedicated to “Digital SAT Practice and Preparation.” Here you will find College Board SAT questions that you potentially have not seen before.
(4) Prep Expert’s Digital SAT Book Launch Event
Attend my Digital SAT Book Launch online webinar at https://prepexpert.com/booklaunch. I am hosting an online book launch event on Sunday, March 3 to release my new book Prep Expert Digital SAT Playbook. The webinar is free to attend and I will share test prep tips for parents and students on how to ace the new Digital SAT! At this online book launch webinar event, you will learn the most powerful tools to maximize scores on the new Digital SAT. In addition, attendees will also receive free bonus chapters, masterclasses, cheat sheets, practice tests, and more. If you are a high school student or the parent of a high school student, you won’t want to miss this online Digital SAT book launch event! Register free here.
Good luck on the new Digital SAT!
