Test-Optional Colleges & The New Digital SAT: What parents and students need to know

by Dr. Shaan Patel, MD, MBA

There is a monumental shift happening to the SAT in 2024. For the first time in almost 100 years, the SAT has gone from paper to pixel! Gone are the days of #2 pencils and scantron bubble sheets. Starting this year, the SAT is officially a digital exam. Good news! The digital SAT is shorter than its paper-based predecessor and requires only two hours to complete with less than 100 questions. Also, the SAT has eliminated obscure vocabulary, removed long reading passages, and allows the use of a digital calculator on every math question. Overall, the new digital SAT will be the most student-friendly version of the exam ever created.

While many parents and students believe that the SAT is no longer important due to test-optional college admissions policies, here are three reasons your child should still take this new digital SAT exam:

1: Reinstatement of Standardized Test Scores for College Admissions
Many colleges and universities have reinstated the SAT requirements for college admissions. These include universities such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Caltech, University of Texas at Austin, and dozens more. Counterintuitively, many of these universities found that removing standardized test score requirements from college admissions disadvantaged low-income students the most. Almost every week, there is a new university that is reinstating SAT score requirements for college admissions. Keep an eye on the news!

2: Higher Acceptance Rates At Test-Optional Universities
Studies have found that students who submit an SAT score when applying to a test-optional university often have a much higher chance of gaining admission than students who do not submit test scores. Although many universities publicly state that they have “test-optional” policies, their admissions outcomes do not support these policies. Students who submit a test score often have 2-3x higher acceptance rates than students who do not submit a test score, even when applying to “test-optional” universities.

3: Eligibility For Billions of Dollars in Merit-Based Scholarships
There are billions of dollars in merit-based scholarships that are awarded to students based on their academic merit every year. These scholarships are often awarded by colleges or private foundations, and can significantly reduce a student’s cost of college. Without a test score, your student will not be eligible for many of these merit-based scholarships.

Prepping for the SAT
There are two keys to preparing for the digital SAT. First, ensure your student has completed hundreds of high-quality practice SAT questions prior to test day. The best way to do this is by downloading the College Board’s Bluebook Application – the official digital SAT testing application. Second, be certain your student learns high-yield strategies to help them answer questions more accurately and efficiently on test day. These strategies can be learned through online digital SAT courses and books.

Dr. Shaan Patel, MD, MBA is the Founder & CEO of Prep Expert, a perfect SAT scorer, and author of Prep Expert Digital SAT Playbook: Winning Strategies To Achieve Your Dream Score.