By: Ben Sexton
As we’ve all moved into Fall and settled back into school, more and more families are asking
about the Digital SAT. And Digital testing is coming very soon, with the Digital PSAT being
administered at many schools on October 14 th . Most students will have their first digital testing
experience in just a month.
So, it is well-timed that a new copy of the Official SAT Study Guide has been released. This guide
contains four “linear” tests, meaning that these tests are not adaptive and each contain the
same practice problems for everyone in the same order, just like the current tests do. As such,
the tests are longer, with more questions per test helping to yield more accurate scores.
Although many of the questions are repeats from the online, adaptive Bluebook tests, the tests
also contain some unique questions. At the beginning of the book are some tutorials and
general information, which are solid.
Official, paper-and-pencil practice problems are still a good resource. But, the book has some
significant drawbacks.
The main drawback that students and families must be aware of is that these tests do not
contain “easy” and “hard” second modules like the real, digital tests do. Tests one and three
contain a first module for verbal and math, followed by only an easier second module. Tests
two and four, by contrast, contain a first module for verbal math followed by only a harder
second module. The real digital tests send you to an easier or harder second module depending
on your performance in the first module. That element is completely missing from these linear
tests.
Not only that, but that fact about the missing modules is only stated on page 317 of the new
Official Guide – not exactly a prominent location. So, it’s likely a student wouldn’t even
recognize this crucial difference while taking these tests. The missing modules, along with the
paper-and-pencil format, make these tests very limited imitations of the real digital tests.
Overall, students should download the Bluebook app and focus their most serious preparation
on the official online tests. The linear tests may be useful for practice problems, but they do not
mimic the real test-day experience.
Please contact with any questions you have about digital testing. While the format has vastly
changed, students will find that content remains much the same, and so the jump overall is not
very large from the current test.