​With the SAT college admissions test going digital in 2024, our director Ann Derryberry talked with Fox5DC about the changes parents can expect and how to prepare your student for what’s to come.

ACT recently reported that the average U.S. score on its college admissions test continued a multi-year decline, and overall, more students are not meeting the minimum benchmarks for success at a four-year college.
 
Our director Ann Derryberry recently talked with Fox5DC about the drop and ways families can prepare for admissions testing and overall academic success.

One of the most common questions we answer from families is when the student should plan to take their first college admissions test, whether it be an SAT or ACT. Recently, our director Ann Derryberry spoke to U.S. News & World Report on the topic.

​In the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, both the ACT and College Board (SAT) were forced to adapt to rapidly changing dynamics like school closures and enhanced safety measures that made offering their paper-based tests more difficult. As a result, both have pushed forward with efforts to offer a digital, computer-based test going forward. The companies are taking different approaches to the rollout and test formats, so students in the Class of 2025 and later need to understand the new offerings, their scheduled rollouts, and how they will affect college admissions testing for this class and future classes. Class of 2024: none of this will affect you.

With millions of students enrolled in Advance Placement courses, the College Board had to scramble last year to provide a test solution in May with most schools closed and students learning remotely.

​Those expectations were never realistic, and the resulting exams, which were provided via a new online platform that relied on heavy-handed security and delivered unreliable performance, left many students frustrated or even unable to complete their exams. Exams were shortened and only covered a limited amount of material, and many wondered if colleges would even accept the scores (they did).

Fast forward to spring 2021 – the College Board has implemented many new changes for this year to improve the experience, but how each of your exams are administered this year will likely depend on the decisions of one person, and you will not have a say.

​Since March, the college admissions test process has become a string of hits and misses for students, test providers of the ACT and SAT, and colleges trying to inject equity into a chaotic admissions process. Many seniors were ultimately unable to test or decided that the effort was not worth it. With senior testing now complete, test capacity should open up for juniors who have been unable to test so far. With that in mind, those juniors planning to test in the first half of 2021 should prepare now to ensure their test plan succeeds.

The college admissions test companies continue to struggle with providing access to testing across the country. With many members of the Class of 2021 still lacking scores and the Class of 2022 gearing up to test this fall, the pressure is on for testing to be widely and safely available.
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The companies are responding to the crisis with mixed results so far, but both are promising to deliver more testing capacity this fall and winter.

With spring and early summer test dates canceled for the SAT and ACT, we continue to expect a huge demand for the next several test dates for both exams. While many colleges are offering test-optional policies for the class of 2021, we strongly advise students to provide test scores if possible. Students who need or plan to take any of these tests should register as soon as possible to ensure their seat.

If you were able to take the March 14 SAT test, count yourself lucky. The possibility of taking an in-person test in the next 6 weeks seems out of the question given the progression of safety measures enacted across the country. And if the situation does not improve, the future of the in-person college admissions testing regime is definitely in question.

This delay will build up demand for testing slots until testing can be administered safely and all students can access the tests successfully and fairly. We expect a big wave of students later in the year as current Juniors push to get second and third tests in before their applications are due in the late Fall/early winter.
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So what do we know today about the future test availability and how should you plan your testing in the face of this uncertainty?