Starting in the spring of 2016, the Scholastic Aptitude Test will change dramatically. The announcement of these changes has many questioning why a test for admission into colleges would change if the curriculum for these colleges remains the same. The SAT is the most utilized standardized test for college admission, but is a test that changes its standards really standardized?

“I’m fine with the SAT changing, I just hope that the standard doesn’t drop at all,” said WHS English teacher, Chris Cloke, “We should never lower the standard just because kids can’t get to the standard. The key is to get them to the standard.”

The new and redesigned test will basically change in eight ways:

It will focus on more relevant words and ask students to define them in the contexts given. This will reduce the need to study words most students have never seen and let students rely on their English skills rather than solely their memory.

In the reading portion, the test will ask students to interpret diagrams, charts, and illustrations, rather than just a passage. This will give the test a more “real world” feel.

Students will be asked to write an essay analyzing another writer’s work, bringing a reading component into the writing portion. Before, students were simply given a prompt, much like many of the other standardized tests, such as the HSPE.

The math portion will be narrowed to three areas:  Problem Solving and Data Analysis, the Heart of Algebra, and Passport to Advanced Math. Problem Solving consists of the regular story problems that make students apply their calculations. The Heart of Algebra will require mastery in the art of solving linear equations and apply them to situations. The Passport to Advanced Math will be the final portion, which will ask students to solve extremely complex problems that are beyond standard knowledge.

The problems the students face will parallel with the problems the world is currently facing. The students will not need to know current events, but must be able to analyze them when taught them.

Science questions will be found in all three sections. This includes lab data and experiments that ask the students to make hypotheses  and conclusions.

Founding documents, such as The Declaration of Independence, will find their way into the redesigned test. Students will need need analyze many of these documents in various sections of the test.

One of the most major changes is that there will no longer be a penalty for wrong answers. This eliminates a student’s need to judge how smart he/she is, and simply lets the judge be the judge of that.

Also, the SAT may be turning to a computer format five or six years in the future. “If they decide to go with an interactive test that gets harder as you get questions right, it’ll help them evaluate the students a lot better. But that’s probably far in the future,” said WHS Counselor Mary Howie.

If you ask a high school student about the SAT, it is likely that the first thing that’ll pop into their brain is the painful study hours. But due to the vocab changes, studying won’t be as imperative as with the old SAT.

“I spent a good week studying for the test, and I also got a tutor to help me. I probably wouldn’t need to do either of those things if I took the new test,” junior Kate Thies, who took the SAT earlier this year, said.

Many upperclassmen see this change as unfair, because the popular belief is that the SAT is changing in the students’ favor, but only in the favor of students of the class of 2017 and beyond.

“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” said senior Jakob Stoll. “The previous test made us jump through hoops just to get a decent score, the freshmen should have to do the same.”

Since the class of 2017 will mostly be competing with others of the same class, fairness will surely not be an issue. But whether it will help or render the judgement of students, nobody will be quite sure until spring 2016.

All SAT info was provided by CollegeBoard.org