If you are planning to pursue your undergraduate studies abroad, then understanding everything about SAT exam is paramount. The SAT exam is a standardized test taken by undergraduate applicants in countries like the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and India. The SAT test is meant to examine your mathematical abilities, as well as your reading and writing skills. The SAT exam is now available in the digital version with a reduced time frame of 2 hours and 14 minutes.
This article will cover all about SAT exam.
Administered by the College Board, the pencil-paper format of the SAT exam has been discontinued, and a digital version of the exam is available from March 2023. Since then, all students have been required to take the test on the Bluebook™— the digital testing application designed by the College Board.
The all-new digital SAT exam is a multistage adaptive test that adjusts the difficulty level of questions to the acumen of every test-taker. The Digital SAT exam contains two sections: Reading & Writing(RW) and Math.
The SAT eligibility criteria are the standards and conditions that students must satisfy to take the SAT exam. Students usually take the SAT between the ages of 17 and 19, however, younger students can register by mail or phone because online registration is prohibited for those under 13 owing to privacy regulations. While they are not required to submit a photo at the time of enrollment, students under the ninth grade must present a legitimate photo ID at the testing location. People who are older than 21 are required to present a valid government-issued ID at the testing location. A fee waiver is also available to students who register over the phone.
The Digital SAT exam pattern has undergone various improvements, including digital administration, adaptability, and shorter test duration. There is a 10-minute optional break in between the Reading & Writing (RW) and Math sections of the SAT exam, which lasts 2 hours and 14 minutes. The math section is timed for 70 minutes with 44 questions, and the RW component lasts for 64 minutes with 54 questions. The SAT scores range from 400-1600, with each part worth 200-800 points. The test has 98 questions in total, is adaptive, and is administered online.
The SAT exam syllabus is intended to measure English reading and writing capabilities, as well as quantitative abilities, essential for undergraduate admissions to colleges in India and overseas.
The redesigned Digital SAT exam includes Reading & Writing(RW) and Math sections.
In the Reading and Writing Section, students must complete 54 multiple-choice questions that cover vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension in 64 minutes (about 1.2 minutes for each question). With an emphasis on algebra, trigonometry, data analysis, problem-solving, and geometry, the Math Section consists of 44 questions, i.e., 33 multiple-choice and 11 student-produced responses, that must be finished in 70 minutes (about 1.6 minutes for each problem).
The SAT exam dates are spread out across seven months in a year: March, May, June, August, October, November, and December. Every month, there is a different test date, which changes annually. Students must first register on the College Board's official account before choosing a test date.
The SAT exam dates in the upcoming year are listed below:
|
SAT Test Date |
Registration Deadline |
|
Mar 8, 2025 |
Feb 21, 2025 |
|
May 3, 2025 |
Apr 18, 2025 |
The online SAT exam registration is a convenient option. Additionally, there is a chance for overseas students to register for the SAT exam after the registration deadline if they are unable to attend the intended SAT. A fee will be charged to those who apply for the SAT exam during the late registration period. Once they have selected their chosen dates for the SAT exam, applicants proceed to register. Applicants should plan their dates far in advance to avoid late SAT registration costs.
The SAT registration fee is $68 plus an overseas charge of $43 for test dates starting on August 24, 2024. To make sure you know precisely what you're paying for, the SAT exam cost is clearly broken down into three sections: base fare, regional fees, and taxes. In India, the SAT exam costs around INR 10,102 in total.
The SAT exam is evaluated on a 400 to 1600 score point scale. A SAT score of 1600 is the highest, and 400 is the lowest possible score. The Reading and Writing score plus a Math section score make up your overall SAT score. The Reading & Writing(RW) section constitutes 200-800 points of the test, and the remaining 200-800 points are attributed to the Math section of the SAT exam.
The lower-income students in India can get financial aid through the College Board India Scholars Program, which includes SAT exam scholarships at participating colleges and up to 90% off SAT registration fees. Students with household incomes under ₹8 lakh per year may be eligible for full-tuition scholarships. SAT India Top Performer and a merit-cum-need scholarship are awarded to students who score 1300+ on the SAT. Recipients are chosen by universities from among income-eligible applicants who satisfy entrance requirements. This initiative contributes to the accessibility and affordability of higher education.
This information is important for you if you are just starting to know about SAT exam. In March 2023, the College Board announced that the SAT would be administered online. The new digital SAT is now shorter than the previous SAT, i.e., 2 hours and 14 minutes. The new SAT exam follows an adaptive format, which means the difficulty level of each question adjusts based on the performance in the previous questions.
Let's have a look at the new test structure.
Since there is no pressure from final examinations, most students find that taking the SAT in the eleventh grade is the best option since it gives them enough time to study. Students have a solid foundation for the test at this point since they are already familiar with important writing and arithmetic themes. They also won't have to worry about board examinations, allowing them to concentrate on SAT study.
Retaking the SAT, if required, is possible giving you numerous chances to get your desired score. Students can retake the test later in the 11th or early in the 12th grade and still have ample time for SAT re-tests.
Read in Detail About: When to Take SAT Exam?
Taking the SAT exam in your 9th grade can be considered too early, if you do not have a defined purpose for taking the test, like taking undergraduate admissions abroad, applying for a scholarship or appearing for some other olympiad, etc.
Moreover, most of the SAT syllabus is based on 10th-grade subjects. Hence, taking the SAT exam in the grade might make you feel underprepared and might lower your chances of getting a good SAT score.
It is deemed late to take the SAT after the 12th grade since you have less time to study for it and submit your college application. Applying to universities abroad might be difficult because the process starts a year before your anticipated admission. It is not ideal to have to skip a year or two of study if you have to retake the SAT.
The concept of superscoring comes into the picture when students want to combine the highest section scores across SAT tests taken on different dates. For example, If your score on the two SAT attempts is as follows:
SAT 1: Reading and Writing (600) and Math (750). Total 1350
SAT 2: Reading and Writing (750) and Math (700). Total 1450
then, you can combine the Math score from SAT 1 and the Reading and Writing score from SAT
Hence, your SAT Superscore is 750 + 750 = 1500.
For this, you must share all of your SAT scores by the test date, as sharing single-section scores cannot be shared with the universities. Some colleges follow the process of superscoring will pick the highest score from each section across multiple SAT exam dates. It is important to note that not all colleges follow the superscoring. Also, if you are applying for a scholarship you might have to share all your scores.
As per the new SAT format, a calculator is allowed for the entire Math section of the SAT exam. The Desmos graphing calculator embedded in Bluebook can be used for computational, graphing, statistical, and other mathematical purposes, when you are attempting the Math section in the SAT exam.
The mean score in the math section was 508, while in the reading and writing section, it was 520.
A 1300 score on your SAT, is a fair score, which will put you ahead in competition when applying for most schools abroad. However, if you plan to apply to Ivy League universities like Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, etc. then you must score above 1500 on your SAT.
Although you may take the SAT exam multiple times, but it is recommended that you take the test utmost 3 times, to get your desired SAT score.