Note: When this blog post was originally published, official College Board policy did not indicate that Superscoring would be allowed between the paper SAT and the Digital SAT. The post has since been updated to reflect more recent statements by the College Board indicating that Superscoring across the two tests CAN be permitted by individual colleges.
If you’re a college-bound high schooler, there are two main questions that you will need to get answered STAT so that your journey through the college application process is as seamless and stress-free as possible:
1. Do I need to take a standardized admissions test (ACT or SAT)?
And if you are in the majority of students who DO need to do admissions testing…
2. Should I take the SAT or the ACT?
The thing is, that second question has just gotten a BIT more complicated, as the College Board is officially launching the “dSAT”—the new Digital SAT—this March.
There are MANY things you should know about the new, Digital SAT. I will be analyzing ALL the differences between the paperless and the paper versions of the test in an upcoming post. But for the sake of helping you make decisions NOW, I’m going to walk you through what your decision-making process should be…with special attention to our current U.S. (and U.S. Territory) Sophomores, who have an unusual opportunity they need to navigate!
1. Deciding whether to take the dSAT if you live outside the U.S. and its territories (Puerto Rico + U.S. Virgin Islands)
If you live outside the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—regardless of what class year you’re in—the decision that YOU’LL be making is this: do I need to take the ACT or the new, Digital SAT (dSAT)?
That’s because beyond the U.S. and its territories, there currently IS no more paper SAT. The next SAT that will be administered will be the Digital SAT in March of 2023.
If you fall in this category of test-takers, I encourage you to take a practice dSAT and a practice ACT to determine which one will be better for you. If you’re already a Junior, you should do this immediately, if you haven’t already. If you’re younger, you might wait until the summer before your Junior year to get started.
If you truly don’t know which test you should take, and you need to start test prep ASAP, you have two options:
Get an expert’s help to determine this FOR you, like I do with all of my private tutoring students in their initial meeting with me, which I call our Ace the Test: Game Plan™ session.
Or, you can just take the ACT, since we know more about that test and have years of backlogged practice tests and bookstores of test prep books to help you out! And check out my ACT English Cram Plan, ACT Math Cram Plan, ACT Reading online course and ACT Science online course.
2. How does the new dSAT affect Juniors (Class of 2024) INSIDE the U.S., Puerto Rico, or U.S. Virgin Islands?
If you fall into this category, you have a pretty clear-cut decision: you’ll be choosing between the ACT and the current paper SAT that we’ve had since 2016! So basically, you’ll be doing the whole “test prep as usual” thing, the same way your friends in grades ABOVE you had to do it.
This is a fantastic spot to be in, because we KNOW how to pick between these versions of the tests, we HAVE loads of past practice tests available, and there are a gajillion test prep books available! (Including my SAT and ACT ebooks and courses!)
If you haven’t determined this for yourself already, I encourage you to drop what you’re doing, take these diagnostic SAT and ACT practice tests, and figure out which one is better for YOU!
Not sure how to make this call? Luckily, I’m a pro. You can book an Ace the Test: Game Plan™ with me after you take your diagnostic tests, and I’ll figure it all out FOR you.
3. Should the Class of 2026 take the ACT or the dSAT (in the U.S. and U.S. territories)?
The decision that YOU’LL be making is: do I need to take the ACT or the new, Digital SAT (dSAT)…which won’t be “new” by the time YOU might have to take it!
The new, Digital SAT (dSAT) will entirely replace the current paper SAT in 2024. That will be spring of your Sophomore year if you’re a current Freshman. Since pretty much no one takes their standardized tests as Sophomores (there are some exceptions, alas), it’s fairly safe to say that you don’t have to worry about the current paper version of the SAT at all! It’ll be gone by the time you need to take it…if you end up picking the SAT over the ACT in the first place, that is!
YOUR Action Items:
Take school seriously, especially your English and Math classes!
The summer between your Sophomore and Junior years, figure out if you should take the ACT or the dSAT!
And last, but CERTAINLY not least…
4. What to do about the dSAT if you live in the U.S., Puerto Rico, or U.S. Virgin Islands AND are in the Class of 2025
You, my dear, are in a very cool situation that gives you a lot more choice and flexibility…but only if you make some decisions NOW and use your time wisely. In fact, you’ll be doing your test prep process differently from the students ahead of you AND behind you!
Here’s the rub: for you, the current, paper version of the SAT will be administered throughout all of 2023, i.e. Spring semester of Sophomore year and Fall semester of your Junior year.
Also, for YOU, the new, Digital SAT (dSAT) will be administered in 2024, i.e. Spring semester of your Junior year and Fall semester of your Senior year.
And this is the catch: although the College Board has recently indicated that it will technically permit Superscoring between the two versions of the test, individual colleges get to make the final call as to whether they’ll allow it. So the tricky thing is that some of the schools on your app list might allow you to Superscore two versions of the test, but not all of them may.
What’s more, even if every single one of the colleges on your list is down with Superscoring between the paper and Digital SATs, you’d still need to study for and take the two very different versions of the test: the paper SAT by December, and the Digital SAT afterwards. This approach to test prep will gobble up a LOT more of your time than if you were just taking one of the two tests (paper or Digital)!
This presents a bit of a conundrum. See, I usually advise students to start prepping for the SAT/ACT between Sophomore and Junior years of high school, and to then start making their first attempts at the test either Spring of Junior year…or if they’re a “hot shot Junior,” then Fall of Junior year.
But the issue here is that—were you to take the December 2023 SAT as your first attempt during Junior year—you might be in the majority of students who need to take it again to raise your Superscore. The problem there is that the next testing opportunity wouldn’t come around ‘til March of 2024…which would be the new, Digital SAT! And then, in order to get a higher Superscore (which isn’t even guaranteed), you’ll have to learn about, prep for, and nail a fairly different version of the test.
See what I mean?
So here’s our solution: we need to determine if you’re a “hot shot”…or not!
Do several/all of these sound like you?
“I’m currently in Algebra 2 or have already taken it.”
“I scored well on the PSAT.”
“I tend to be near the top of my class, or I’m in a gifted/accelerated learning program.”
“I was planning on taking the SAT or ACT early in my Junior year.”
If you see yourself in some or all of those statements, congrats! You’re what I call a “hot shot”—and when you’re a Junior, you’ll be a “hot shot Junior.”
So if you’re a “hot shot,” your goal is to figure out “ACT or (current, paper) SAT?” NOW…
…so that IF the SAT is the right test for you, you will have plenty of opportunities to take it and Superscore that paper version of the test you’ve mastered to your Target Score before the end of 2023. Currently, you’d have current, paper SAT test sittings in March, May, June, August, October, November and December of 2023 before it gets phased out.
If you DON’T see yourself on an accelerated SAT/ACT timeline, and/or you DON’T identify with the “hot shot” statements, that’s totally fine!
Here are YOUR Action Items:
Work hard in your classes the rest of your Sophomore year.
The summer after this year / before your Junior year, figure out your answer to the “ACT or Digital SAT?” question.
If the dSAT is the right test for YOU, you will want to time your test prep so that you peak no earlier than March of your Junior year. Thus, you might start prepping in the middle or even the end of your Junior fall semester!
Slay the ACT or dSAT!
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OK, did that all make sense? I hope so!
Remember that if you need help figuring out which test to take, I’m your gal! You can inquire about working together here, or have me solve your Test Prep problems by booking your Ace the Test: Game Plan™ today!
