LOGGED IN: A student checks her College Board account online. From the College Board website, it is possible to check old SAT scores, register for new tests, and practice SAT test questions.

The SAT has always been a source of stress and anxiety for high school juniors and seniors. This coupled with the fact that most of the knowledge necessary for the SAT is knowledge that would be tough to find a use for in the real world has caused the College Board to announce changes for the SAT.

CHECK YOUR CALENDAR: The high school guidance office always has a copy of the the next SAT dates. The next testing date is June 7th.

College Board is changing the SAT back to its previous format, as well as adding some new elements in the reading section. There will no longer be an essay section, so the maximum score will return from 2400 to 1600 according to the College Board website.  College Board has also decided to make the material tested over more applicable to real life and less about memorizing obscure words and sample sentences. To make the test a more accurate measure of student ability, College Board is adding texts about politics and other social sciences to their test, which is similar to the current structure of the SAT’s competitor, the ACT test.

IF TWO TRAINS LEAVE THE STATION AT THE SAME TIME…: The high school guidance office has many resources for students who wish to study for the SAT. There are also practice books for SAT II Subject Tests, which test on specific topics like Biology or Spanish.

Many of the changes being made to the SAT are responses to recent complaints that the test’s high scores disproportionately belong to more wealthy and educated families. According to The New York Times The average total score of test takers whose families make over $200,000 is 1,700 while the score of  families children whose income is less than $20,000 is 1,320. This is a difference of over 300 points that is closely correlated to family income. As the SAT is used as an admittance factor by most colleges, the unequal distribution of scores across income levels is viewed by many as an obstacle for economic mobility.

The SAT has and will continue to play a large role in college decisions and the futures of high school students. The changes to the SAT will take effect in 2016 and colleges will have to adapt to the new way of College Board.

[poll=”20″]