Everything You Need to Know About the New SAT

The redesigned SAT w.e.f Spring 2016 would be something we haven’t quite experienced before and given the fact that the SAT is changing after 3 decades; one can expect quite a few structural alterations.

Though the core skills testing Verbal and Math remain unchanged- it is the presentation of the questions, specifically in the Verbal Section, that has been thoroughly revamped. The initial impetus would be on decoding and demystifying the redesigned SAT to the aspirants. This will include introduction to and familiarization with the various sections of the Test. At the very outset, what one ought to know is that the traditional Critical Reading and Writing sections have been renamed as EVIDENCE BASED Reading and Writing respectively. Under this are included the READING TEST and the WRITING and LANGUAGE Test.

 Another prime amendment to the old SAT is the deletion of Sentence Construction questions from the verbal portion altogether. Vocabulary on the new SAT will now be strictly contextual and blind memorization of word lists has been also done away with.

The major surprise however, is the Essay. 

It’s no longer mandatory on the new SAT! Instead the essay would now be an independent question carrying a separate marking system and would have to be attempted after the multiple choice questions. The new essay is 50 minutes long.

Elaborating on the new marking one should note that the compulsory sections of Verbal and Quantitative carry 800 marks each to be completed in 3 hours- with the Essay being an optional question to be completed in 50 minutes. This additional time will be given only to those attempting the essay. Another highlight of the new SAT is the fact that there would be NO NEGATIVE MARKING. Hence, it’s strongly recommend that students attempt each question!

Coming back to the strategic approaches - the aspirants will be coached with a strong emphasis on individual requirements; on how best to effectively tackle the Reading Test and Writing and Language Test questions. Optimization of time is of prime essence in the new SAT. An interesting addition in this section is of the INFOGRAPHICS based questions; wherein the students will be asked to contextually relate the content of the verbal passages with the information presented in the adjoining statistical infographic and vice versa. There’s absolutely no room for panic here as the students will NOT be asked to calculate anything!

The central point to be borne in mind when it comes to the new SAT- by students, parents and faculty alike- is the fact that the questions test the ANALYTICAL abilities of students through and through. And interestingly enough, this is especially true when it comes to the Verbal and Essay questions.

On a concluding note, it would be fair to say that the Redesigned SAT is a sharper and more scientific avatar of its old counterpart which would be phased out soon. Having said that, it is also true that if one has prepared judiciously and is confident in the rudimentary academic skills of Verbal and Quant, mastering the new avatar wouldn’t be an unachievable goal.

Here’s to new highs and better scores on summit NEW SAT!