Area schools clarify new SAT

After changes to the SAT are implemented in March, Mom and Dad won’t be quite as happy with a score of 1,600.

Students and parents attended a panel Thursday at Chapel Hill High School, where they learned about the new SAT — which features three sections instead of two and has a maximum score of 2,400.

The new test will last 45 minutes longer than its predecessor and will start with a 25-minute essay.

“We’re calling it a testing marathon and telling students to prepare for it like so,” said Princeton Review representative Joy Bryde. “The test is longer than any other standardized test except the MCAT.”

Bryde gave a presentation at the panel outlining the changes. She said the change really came down to a business decision.

The College Board, which writes and administers the SAT, was pressured by then-University of California President Richard C. Atkinson, who threatened not to accept the SAT unless it was changed.

Bryde said the new SAT more accurately mirrors high school curricula, and East Chapel Hill High School guidance counselor Joan Bishop agreed, especially about the math section. The math section of the new SAT eliminates quantitative comparisons and adds Algebra II-level problems.

“For many of our students, the new math will better reflect their current level since they generally take higher math levels. The math on the SAT will be current, instead of topics they studied years ago,” Bishop said. Bryde said that there will only be four or five Algebra II questions on the test and that students not at that level can leave them blank without penalty.

Students start the SAT with an essay — part of the new writing section — which Bryde said is formulaic and will be viewed as a rough draft.

“The new writing section is not really new,” Bryde said, but simply the same as the SAT II: Writing Test, which will be administered for the last time Saturday.

Susan O. Klapper, senior assistant admissions director at the University, said the admissions office will not treat the new SAT differently than the old version.

“The biggest question we get asked is about combining section scores. We will take the best of the student’s old score and combine it with the best of the new score to make the overall best score, just as we do if students have taken the SAT twice,” Klapper said.

Some college applications are eliminating their essay questions and instead using the SAT essay, which students have the option of submitting to colleges, Klapper said.

UNC is not one of those colleges.

“We don’t expect to let go of our application essays,” said Klapper.

Pryde said that although students are anxious about the new test, it was determined to be similar in difficulty to the old one.

“Plus the good news is, you can all say you scored higher than your siblings or your parents,” she joked.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.