{"id":1273,"date":"2013-10-22t00:35:06","date_gmt":"2013-10-22t00:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/sat\/?p=1273"},"modified":"2017-11-07t16:36:41","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08t00:36:41","slug":"how-hard-is-the-sat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-hard-is-the-sat\/","title":{"rendered":"how hard is the sat?"},"content":{"rendered":"

note: this post has been revised to reflect changes to the sat beginning in march 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n

hundreds of thousands of high school students set their sights on college each year, which means hundreds of thousands of students are taking the sat. understandably, they want to know what they are up against. <\/p>\n

particularly those who are are going to be among the first victims, i mean lucky ducks, to take the redesigned sat<\/a> in the spring of 2016. many of them ask us before they start studying, \u201chow hard is the sat?\u201d but, particularly as we begin our journey with the new sat, which is drastically different from the old one, this is a difficult question to answer. however, we\u2019ve carefully studied the new test<\/a>, and here\u2019s what we think. <\/p>\n

first of all, let\u2019s talk about the big question of the moment: <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

is the new sat harder than the old sat?<\/h2>\n

the short answer is no. and here\u2019s why. your performance on standardized tests is always compared to the performance of the other students who take the test, and your score reflects this comparison. it\u2019s adjusted and scaled. and concordance tables will be developed so that both you and the schools you are applying to can accurately compare your score<\/a> on the new sat to a corresponding score on the old sat. so, if you ignore all the nuances, technically, you should receive the same relative score on both the old and the new sat\u2026.so it\u2019s not harder. <\/p>\n

but, now for the nuances. just as some students are better suited for, and thus score higher on, the act rather than the sat, some students who were better suited for the old sat will not be a good fit for the new sat<\/a> and vice versa. the tests are very different and they reward different skill sets. for example, the new test is more reading-focused and passage-heavy across the board. there is a greater focus on higher-level math skills<\/a> and more questions on algebra and fewer questions on geometry. and there\u2019s a no-calculator section, which can be a frightening prospect to button-happy math students. on the flip side, the sat has done away with difficult vocabulary, brain-teaser-like math questions, and the penalty for wrong answers, so if these were your downfalls before, insert gloating happy dance here–the new sat is sooooo much easier!<\/p>\n

how hard is the sat compared to tests in high school?<\/h2>\n

the new sat is supposed to do a better job of testing the same type of knowledge and skills you are learning in school. the old sat was criticized for its traps, its logic games, its teachable tricks. now, things are a lot more straightforward. so the new sat is far more school-like. <\/p>\n

this being said, you\u2019ll likely find that even the new sat is harder than most of the tests you take in school for a few reasons: <\/p>\n