Old SAT or New SAT: Which Should You Take? - Merit Educational Consultants
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Old SAT or New SAT: Which Should You Take?

Right when all of the SAT prep programs finally have the system down and have tons of materials and tips for improving SAT scores, the College Board announces that the last old SAT will be administered in January 2016.  Insert comical sad trombone sound here.

While the new SAT is supposed to be easier than the old SAT because there is no essay and the vocabulary isn’t as ridiculously difficult (you know, they won’t include 15-letter words that nobody uses today), I still recommend that juniors take the OLD SAT in January.

Here are the pros, cons, and the ACT option:

Benefits of Taking the OLD SAT

  1. Nobody knows how to prep for the new SATs
    Every time the College Board, or any testing institution, introduces a new test format, chaos inevitably ensues. They don’t have millions of students — their guinea pigs —  to test questions/problems before subjecting students to problem sets for the real SATs. Then test prep companies don’t fully understand how to prepare students to ace the new test and there aren’t enough practice tests available during the first year. 
  2. Colleges will accept both the old and the new SATs, so why not take both?
    If the old test is better for you because you can take advantage of the volumes of test-prep workbooks and programs out there, you can have the advantage of taking the last old SAT. If you don’t do well, gear up for the new SAT and take them in May, June, October, November, or December.

Benefits of Taking the New SAT

  • Better for those who like to take risks
    If you’re the type to just wing the SAT and not prepare for it, then take the new SAT.  You won’t notice that there are relatively fewer workbooks because you wouldn’t use them anyway. Right?
  • Level Playing Field
    The students who study their vocab and prepare to take the SAT for years, won’t have their usual advantage over you.  They’ll be just as unfamiliar with the test as you are, which actually levels the playing field!

What About the ACT?

Check to see if the ACT is a better test for you to take.  If you’re lucky, the ACT will be the better test for you and you won’t be subject to stress (see above) when it comes to preparing for the new SAT.

No matter what you decide to take, you really need to make that decision now.  Weigh the pros and cons, and then pull out your planner and start prepping!