Results from the March 6 digital SAT taken on campus and the March 9 exam given at different locations are being released by College Board on Friday. 

For many students, taking the digital format of this test proves to be a better experience than the older, paper-based version.

“The new SAT format is a lot better than the old one in my opinion,” sophomore Krishna Perneti said. “It’s a lot easier to access and navigate, and there aren’t many things you have to worry about before testing, specifically the personal information part on the bubble sheet from the paper SAT. It was mostly hassle-free, and that’s a welcome change to an already weird test.”

For many students, the shorter times of the digital format, when compared to the older format, made a really big difference when it came to the testing experience.

“I really like how short the test has gotten,” junior Avishi Singh said. “I think that one of the things that was preventing me from getting a higher score on the paper test was how exhausted I would get towards the end of the test. But now, I don’t feel that tired by the end.”

In addition, many students appreciated how many of the questions themselves, especially in the reading sections, were also shorter, reducing the time they spent per question.

“The biggest difference between the new and old for me is the reading and grammar section,” Perneti said. “Before, you were given a whole article, and 10ish questions about the article. Now, you are given a paragraph for every question, which makes the process, for me, go a lot faster.”

Despite the apparent benefits with the new format, students also encountered some drawbacks with functionality, including the new, adaptive style questions.

“I don’t like that there are now adaptive questions, which give you the next module based on how you did your previous module,” Perneti said. “It’s pretty easy to make simple mistakes on seemingly easy questions, which would then affect your test as a whole.”

Many students also found the no-touch aspect of the digital test challenging, especially when it came to using tools like highlighters.

“Something I don’t like about the new format is you aren’t able to physically underline important parts of the question when it’s online,” Singh said. “Of course, there is a highlighter tool, but it still feels different and I never find myself using that highlighter tool. Physically underlining helps me emphasize the important parts of a question.”

Yet, regardless of the drawbacks, for most students, the verdict on the new format is positive: the digital SAT proves to be an improvement on the paper format.

“I really like the format of the new SAT,” Singh said. “I think it makes it way easier to get questions right, especially math ones with the Desmos calculator.”