As of spring 2024, American students across the country are faced with a change. That change being the SAT (once being a 154 question test that took about 3-4 hours to complete) is now digital (now 98 questions that takes about 2 hours and 14 minutes to complete). The SAT going digital was not a big surprise, considering that after the COVID-19 pandemic, everything seemed to be digital. Not only is the new test digital, but it’s easier, offering more accommodations to students than ever before.

Although some will argue that there are kids that can’t focus on a computer screen and will ultimately fail because of the change, that is a slippery slope fallacy. You can’t assume that just because someone is struggling that they fail the test, struggling shows signs of trying. Also, while there are students that have issues on digital, there are also students that struggle on paper, no matter what you change the test to there is always going to be someone that struggles.

The new SAT test consists of four sections. Two 32-minute sections of reading and writing with a total of 54 questions, and two 35-minute sections of math with a total of 44 questions. Compared to the old SAT, the digital version is heaven for students, especially since students are now able to use their calculator for assistance on both math sections. 

Finally, there is better security to keep students from cheating. There is now a monitor on every student’s computer scanning for anything that may be deemed as cheating. While the argument against this would be that AI is faulty at times, it’s still better than one person watching over about ten kids – and there is probably an actual human who checks to see if there is actual cheating or if the technology really was faulty.

Overall, the SAT becoming digital was a great decision on the creators behalf as the test is easier and less stressful for students, and it is conforming with the times where most resources and assignments for academic use are online now. There is also better security able to catch a student cheating that the proctor who may be focused on other stimuli, ensuring that the people who deserve their grade get it.