I took it and thought it was much easier than before, about the same as the PSAT where I got 99 percentile in everything and scored in high 700’s (760 - 800) in all catagories. I had taken the ACT on the Tuesday before it and felt that the SAT was much less franetic, more time to think through things and no science section forcing rushed interpretations of graphs which is always my worst. I’ll be interested to see what my scores are
There were at least 3 (some say 8) versions of the test, so scoring won’t be the same for everyone; however, the new SAT was designed in a way such that a 1000 would be an average (according to prepscholar).
One way in which the new SAT could be “easier” is that the shape of the curve could change. At the far right end of the curve it seems that the new PSAT was compressed. In the past, the top score for National Merit Semifinalist qualification (in DC and NJ) was 225 out of 240. That meant there were 16 score “slots” into which those student fell, making for a lengthy “tail” on a bell curve. Based on all of the available evidence, it seems that the new cutoff will likely be a 221 or 222 out of 228, cutting the number of score slots in half for the same group of people. In other words, it looks like it is now easier to get a score near the very top of the possible range, but, of course, schools will recognize that and will reinterpret the scores according to the new percentiles rather than the old.
I hope college admission officers judge the old and new SATs differently then. I had to study my behind for the tricky old test…
Yep. Several of us announced this ahead of time. And now college admissions decisions will be just so much easier. Not. I can’t wait to hear the whining on CC: “But my child got a _____ score on the SAT.” (And so will have a few other thousand applicants to that same college.)
The new scores won’t mean anything w/o context. I believe that CB is preparing concordance tables for college admissions offices, etc.
they dumbed it down? perhaps to much criticism and schools dropping the test for their own reasons. and the SAT folks trying to keep it relevant? just a thought.
The goal of Collegeboard is to make the new SAT appear friendly to students. I think that goal has more or less been achieved. Because it is a standardized test, they will need the student population to fall in more or less a normal distribution. If a lot of students do really well on it, then they will have to tweak it to so there is a nice distribution. The key goal of Collegeboard was to eliminate this perception that SAT was a tricky test. So how do you create a test that seems easy to students but is able to differentiate them, that is the holy grail here.
We know ACT is a straight forward test and I haven’t seen any students complaining about the test, but ACT test also creates a normal distribution of student scores. The SAT is just morphing into an ACT to stay relevant.
the SAT is so 20th century —the ACT is the go to test for more and more students
As a student who took the test, I think the new SAT was “easier” because there was no longer the memorized vocabulary section. Vocabulary is now worked into the grammar and reading section, which is a lot simpler and more fair to students who cannot afford a tutor or practice materials for rote memorization.
Like previously stated, the new SAT, if standardized correctly, can’t be “easier” since your scores are compared with others and are not based off a single “passing grade”.
issacthefuture…
yes but the curve has probably been dumbed down. if lots of people score on the high side of the bell curve the value of a high score is greatly diminished. so the new 1600 or 2400 is less awesome than 20 years ago. I guess those on the weak side of the curve are in a worse position perhaps but those are probably not the hyper competitive students to begin with.
The idea that you need money or a tutor to learn vocabulary words is not very plausible. There are many tens of thousands of books available for free at the library or now on the web. How much does a dictionary cost? Learning the meanings of words is one of the least expensive activities I can imagine.
I’m not sure if the tests we’re completely the same but I know the essay question was the same.
I think everyone’s too stressed about this. Everyone was saying the same thing about the PSAT and it didn’t happen. It is not supposed to be easier, it’s supposed to be more aligned with high school curriculum like a ACT. I Seriously doubt there will be considerably more 1600 scorers than there were 2400 scorers. Barely anyone I know got over an 1100 on the PSAT.
S2 said the March SAT was easy.That was a relief to hear because he actually was finding the Barron’s SAT prep tests fairly challenging compared to the PSAT on which he did very well. Of course the proof will be in the May pudding.
I kind of miss the long study sessions of vocab. and surfing the net for the Holy Guide to the Critical Reading Writing and others shenanigans that went with studying for the old SAT. The new SAT gets rid of all the fun of studying your ass off 
@JuicyMango I’m sure you can relate and understand right?
“Based on all of the available evidence, it seems that the new cutoff will likely be a 221 or 222 out of 228,”
Except no actual score data has been released, so people are still guessing what cutoffs will be based on the sparse data that has been released.
@suzyQ7 Can you direct me to the discussion page on CC where the actual test takers said that the paper was very easy?
Hmm, that was what everyone said about the January 2016 (old) SAT test. Turns out the curves were very harsh.