<p>Wow, so I guess that means there was only a decade-long window in which the SAT’s were out of 2400 instead of 1600. That makes us kinda special, haha. </p>
<p>And I don’t know, I didn’t mind the guessing penalty. Wasn’t there a purpose to it? Like any test taker would have a 20% chance of guessing correctly on a random question, so the penalty was implemented to “reward” people who actually knew the answers instead of those who just bubbled something in, since [1 - 0.25(4)] = 0 net gain. </p>
<p>Yay on making essays optional, yay on removing the unnecessarily highbrow vocab, yay on combining (?) the CR and W sections, nay on banning calculators for certain sections. If I were a freshman, I wouldn’t know HOW to feel about this until I saw the actual test! For all we know, it could really go either way. </p>
<p>…NO STUPID VOCABULARY MEMORIZATION??? THE CR WAS MY LOWEST SECTION. I don’t mind the essay, I got an 11. For math I could live without a calculator. BUT SERIOUSLY. There’s no penalty either?
I’m just kind of mad that I’m a senior so I can’t do anything about it now.
MY CHILD WILL FULFILL MY DREAMS THEN. hahahahahhaha </p>
<p>I did very well on the vocabulary section (okay to be honest, despite my ability to be able to decipher words, I’m actually pretty bad at using the vocabulary in my writing), as well as the math section. As far as the other parts, my opinion is: Why the heck does an ENGINEER have to deal with this junk (grammar nazism and excessive passage interpretation)! Yay, supposedly there is science related stuff. It is now a balanced exam in which I would’ve done much better.
I did really well in the non-English areas of high school and am taking all engineering courses during my second semester thanks to AP credits getting the pesky other courses out of the way. So thanks SAT for predicting very well my first year performance! Ahh, and I got rejected from the other school I applied to just to see if I would get in, hmmm.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t really care. It doesn’t affect me and if it’s easier for the freshmen and below, then good for them. If it’s harder, that sucks. They’ll be able to figure it out and if it is that bad, they can always take the ACT. </p>
<p>Didn’t they just change the SAT a decade ago? Likely to change again by the time my children are in high school (considering, you know, I don’t have any right now and I’m only a sophomore.) </p>
<p>I haven’t seen anyone mention how the Khan Academy’s free prep course should help… All of the 17’ kids’ll have access to a magnificent review resource for free. </p>
<p>@tangentline I don’t mean to sound sassy, but as a former prospective engineer and physicist, I can tell you that what you think are not important (critical reading and writing skills) are some of the most crucial skills if you want to get a job. There are some employers who will throw out you application the second they find one small grammatical error. And the passages? They are aiming to score your critical thinking skills. You need to be able to read something quickly, get the key facts, and identify the passages main points. I don’t care if you’re and engineer, mathematician, lawyer or doctor. People need to know how to read effectively and sift through the words to find the meaning and “point.”</p>
<p>I used to have a similar mentality until I spoke to practicing engineers, employers, and college admissions officers. However banal and irrelevant these skills may seem, they are critical for just about any job and college major.</p>
<p><em>Shamelessly double-posting</em> Also can we just talk about the fact that there are going to be at least one foundational American text on each test? Does anyone else feel like this addition puts foreign exchange students, recent immigrants, and refugees at a disadvantage?</p>
<p>@LaMuniv
Although the “SAT skills” are important for any major–I will need them to some extent–some majors will put more emphasis on problem solving, organizational and leadership skills (interesting if they could put this on a standardized test, but it could mean subjective decision making), understanding the situation (not in the context of reading a passage), etc.
I feel the SAT score is a huge deciding factor in the just below top tier colleges where it’s weight compared to the other parts of the application is more than at colleges where the SAT is not such a huge factor.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s just me–working the timed situation, sifting through baffling answer choices, trying to find the error that the test writers hide somewhere in a sentence I did not write (and maybe there is no error in which I can be penalized for guessing that there is an error)… These are typical “SAT skills” that someone who practices the test will master to do well.</p>
<p>I’m only a first year in college and I am looking for employment with anything I can get for the experience or connections to be more flexible with my options. I’m finding that one of my main difficulties is lacking experience working with projects (Ex: robotics/electronics work or designing systems), programming, or in other times lacking upper division coursework. General academic abilities are weighted less than expertise in these areas which I must focus on to improve myself.</p>
<p>The whole “New SAT Format” topic has been a popular one on my Facebook wall since all my friends have been going nuts over it. All of them seem to think that it’s great since it’s going to be easier but quite honestly, I find myself not liking it at all. If the new format is to be implemented in 2016, then how am I supposed to study for it? Also, they’re purposely making the SAT easier just so that people can get better scores - but then if so, what’s the difference between someone who’s more qualified who gets a 1600 and someone who is less qualified who also gets a 1600? </p>
<p>I don’t understand why people think the SAT will be easier. Even if it is, then either future curves will be very harsh or colleges will have a new meaning for a competitive SAT score.</p>
<p>They’re making it easier and easier so now the SAT = Scrub Admissions Test</p>
<p>I know its supposed to make economically challenged students get into better colleges, but how does knowing 1/2 x 1/2 indicate how you would do in college math?</p>
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