SAT

This article is about the college admission test in the United States. For the exams in England colloquially known as SATs, see National Curriculum assessment. For other uses, see SAT (disambiguation).

SAT
Logo since 2017
TypeComputer-based standardized test
AdministratorCollege Board, Educational Testing Service
Skills testedWriting, critical reading, mathematics
PurposeAdmission to undergraduate programs of universities or colleges
Year started1926; 98 years ago (1926)
Duration2 hours 14 minutes[1]
Score rangeTest scored on scale of 200–800, (in 10-point increments), on each of two sections (total 400–1600).
Essay scored on scale of 2–8, in 1-point increments, on each of three criteria.
Offered7 times annually[a]
RegionsWorldwide
LanguagesEnglish
Annual number of test takersIncrease Over 1.9 million high school graduates in the class of 2023[3]
PrerequisitesNo official prerequisite. Intended for high school students. Fluency in English assumed.
FeeUS$60.00 to US$108.00, depending on country.[4]
Used byMost universities and colleges offering undergraduate programs in the U.S.
Websitesat.collegeboard.org Edit this at Wikidata

The SAT (/ˌɛsˌeɪˈtiː/ ess-ay-TEE) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and had two components, Verbal and Mathematical, each of which was scored on a range from 200 to 800. Later it was called the Scholastic Assessment Test, then the SAT I: Reasoning Test, then the SAT Reasoning Test, then simply the SAT.

The SAT is wholly owned, developed, and published by the College Board, a private, not-for-profit organization in the United States. It is administered on behalf of the College Board by the Educational Testing Service,[5] another non-profit organization which until shortly before the 2016 redesign of the SAT developed the test and maintained a repository of items (test questions) as well.[6] The test is intended to assess students' readiness for college. Originally designed not to be aligned with high school curricula,[7] several adjustments were made for the version of the SAT introduced in 2016. College Board president David Coleman added that he wanted to make the test reflect more closely what students learn in high school with the new Common Core standards,[8] which have been adopted by the District of Columbia and many states.

Many students prepare for the SAT using books, classes, online courses, and tutoring, which are offered by a variety of companies and organizations. One of the best known such companies is Kaplan, Inc., which has offered SAT preparation courses since 1946. Starting with the 2015–16 school year, the College Board began working with Khan Academy to provide free online SAT preparation courses.[9]

Historically, starting around 1937, the tests offered under the SAT banner also included optional subject-specific SAT Subject Tests, which were called SAT Achievement Tests until 1993 and then were called SAT II: Subject Tests until 2005; these were discontinued after June 2021.[10][11] After June 2021, with some exceptions, the SAT no longer has an essay section.[12][10][11]

In the past, the test was taken using paper forms that were filled in using a number 2 pencil and were scored (except for hand-written response sections) using Scantron-type optical mark recognition technology. Starting in March 2023 for international test-takers and March 2024 for those within the U.S., the testing is administered using a computer program called Bluebook running on a laptop or tablet computer brought by the student or provided at the testing site.[13][14] The test was also made adaptive, customizing the questions that are presented to the student based on how they perform on questions asked earlier in the test, and shortened from three hours to two hours and 14 minutes.[1][15]

While a considerable amount of research has been done on the SAT, many questions and misconceptions remain.[16][17] Outside of college admissions, the SAT is also used by researchers studying human intelligence in general and intellectual precociousness in particular,[18][19][20] and by some employers in the recruitment process.[21][22][23]

  1. ^ a b "How the SAT is Structured". College Board. Archived from the original on March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  2. ^ Goldberg, Emma (September 27, 2020). "Put Down Your No. 2 Pencils. But Not Your Face Mask". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference test takers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Fees And Costs". The College Board. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  5. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About ETS". ETS. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  6. ^ "'Massive' breach exposes hundreds of questions for upcoming SAT exams". Reuters. Archived from the original on July 19, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  7. ^ Baird, Katherine (2012). Trapped in Mediocrity: Why Our Schools Aren't World-Class and What We Can Do About It. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. "And a separate process that began in 1926 was complete by 1942: the much easier SAT—a test not aligned to any particular curriculum and thus better suited to a nation where high school students did not take a common curriculum—replaced the old college boards as the nations's college entrance exam. This broke the once tight link between academic coursework and college admission, a break that remains to this day."
  8. ^ Lewin, Tamar (March 5, 2014). "A New SAT Aims to Realign With Schoolwork". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014. He said he also wanted to make the test reflect more closely what students did in high school and, perhaps most important, rein in the intense coaching and tutoring on how to take the test that often gave affluent students an advantage.
  9. ^ Balf, Todd (March 5, 2014). "The Story Behind the SAT Overhaul". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  10. ^ a b "College Board Will No Longer Offer SAT Subject Tests or SAT with Essay". College Board Blog. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Hartocollis, Anemona; Taylor, Kate; Saul, Stephanie (January 20, 2021). "Retooling During Pandemic, the SAT Will Drop Essay and Subject Tests". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference SorensenUSNews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Thompson-2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Goldstein, Dana (March 8, 2024). "No More No. 2 Pencils: The SAT Goes Fully Digital". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  15. ^ "What is Digital SAT Adaptive Testing?". College Board Blog. August 14, 2023. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Frey-2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Hambrick, David C.; Chabris, Christopher (April 14, 2014). "Yes, IQ Really Matters". Science. Slate. Archived from the original on August 31, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference O'Boyle-2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Haier-2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lubinsky-2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Weber-2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference Treu-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dewan-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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