Digital SAT tests have officially rolled out this testing season. More than 750,000 students have already taken the digital test since early March.

The SAT has been around for nearly one hundred years and is the most common standardized test used for college and university admissions. The SAT stands for Scholastic Aptitude Test and is a multiple choice test separated into two parts: reading and writing, and  math. 

For as long as the SAT has been around, students who have taken the test have had to come in with their number 2 pencils and fill in bubbles for the whole test, but that is no longer the case. As of March 9, 2024, the SAT was completely changed to be fully digital. The discussions and overall actions of making the SAT digital were to adapt to the changing landscape of education and testing.

The format of the test is not the only thing that is changing but also the length of the test. The old paper format of the test was around three hours long, but now with the test being online, it is much shorter with the test being just over two hours. Students who take the digital SAT will have 64 minutes to complete the reading and writing sections, and 70 minutes to complete the math section.

“Having to take the SAT in general has never been something I’ve looked forward to doing and I’m glad I was able to take it online because I would much rather take [it] online versus on paper,” said junior Teagan Scott-Daniels.

For the reading and writing sections, there will no longer be any long passages, but rather short passages that will have only one question relating to it. There will also be no more difficult vocabulary in the reading sections. For the math section, students will be allowed to use a calculator for all questions compared to the paper format where students could only use a calculator for a certain part of the math section.

Ever since the SAT has become digital there has been an increase in the number of students who have taken it. Although there has been an increase in test takers, more than 2,000 colleges and universities have stopped making it a requirement to include your score when applying.

When taking the SAT digitally, students will still have to go through the same process when taking the exam. Students can bring their own device or borrow one from testing locations, and it is still taken on the weekends at various testing centers and locations.