Tigerway: Commentary about the New Digital SAT (Update post-conversation with College Board)
(Trying a new email format on Substack that is more blog-like)
Dear Tigerway Team Members and Parents,
Tigerway is a member of the National Test Prep Association (NTPA), and the Association routinely contacts the College Board to understand the latest updates surrounding standardized testing, particularly the new SAT coming out in just over 18 months.
If you have children who are currently a Freshmen in High School or middle school children, this email is particularly relevant for you.
Here are observations that the NTPA recent made that I would like to share with you:
In select neighborhoods, the College Board is ALREADY piloting the new version of the test to current Juniors. Students who take the new test will have the option to submit this new test score to colleges this Fall.
There will start to be practice materials later this summer (around the June-August) timeframe
College Board intends to launch 2 official practice tests once materials ready
There will be 1 PSAT Adaptive Practice Test released this summer
The testing schedule will continue to be similar to today’s testing schedule
As one of the Founding Members at the NTPA , I’ve had the opportunity to look at multiple new-SAT questions in the Digital Format.
My observations is that the test is quite different from the current format in terms of its adaptive scoring nature. Questions will become harder or easier depending on the accuracy of your answer choices submitted. If students are performing well, the “hard” questions are more difficult than the challenging questions on today’s format. This means that it will become more challenging to get an elite score on the test because of the adaptive nature of making questions increasingly challenging.
Score inflation is going to be reigned in with the new adaptive format. Scoring 750s or higher on the English and Math will be met with greater scarcity.
Also, just as a quick update, I wanted to take a moment to share exciting news with you:
Several more of our Team Members have gotten into Northeastern University Boston University, Bentley University, Babson, and Brandeis. (These 5 schools are very popular for Massachusetts high school students)
The March SAT continues to prove that we systematically help our Team Members get 1400+ and 1500+ on EVERY testing month throughout the year
Several of our Team Members have received offers at Ivy League Schools this year (Dartmouth, Harvard, Cornell, and Brown)
With MIT’s decision to reinstate the SAT, I believe that STEM oriented schools will follow suit. NON-STEM schools potentially have less pressure to go back to test-required. In almost all cases, having a 1400+ on the SAT is always going to be helpful to a college application being sent to a Top 30 Ranked College.
In addition, it is important to note that some STEM departments at Universities do not allow transfers into the department once you’re in College. So you either get accepted as a Computer Science or a Health Science major, or you don’t get the opportunity to transfer or switch majors at all.
This incentivizes high school students to put their best foot forward while they are still in high school by securing top grades, taking AP courses, and performing well on the SAT (specifically the Math portion of the test for aspiring STEM majors).
If you are serious about getting a 1400+ or 1500+ on the SAT (and learning how to APPLY these skills in real life), then schedule a time to speak with me and my Team.