The SAT, changed again.

Since its conception in 1901, the SAT has undergone massive change; beginning as an essay-only exam and growing to allowing students to choose the score that is sent to college. Now, this exam underwent another series of transformations.

Among these transformations arriving in 2015 are questions that will require students to respond using evidence, reading from broader topics, and the abandonment of SAT vocabulary, an optional essay section, and the revival of the 1600 point scale.

With the new SAT comes a change in preparation, techniques and strategies that ultra-achieving students have been memorizing and utilizing will no longer be required. Students will have to adjust and learn new techniques and strategies to tackle this new version of the SAT. In addition, college admissions will have to juggle students who were tested on both the 2400 and 1600 scale. Throughout school systems, the dropping of the essay section is ill-advised.

“Verb and pronoun disagreements are literally the top two grammar issues [in] the current SAT tests,” said Paul Jury, a Test Director of the SAT.

As the SAT transforms, it has both positive and negative effects; it’s easier. As mentioned above, colleges would discount the 1600 scale in comparison to the 2400. It would come across as less of an achievement, with less work required to do well on the test. This is especially critical when you think about the fact that colleges expect and demand that their applicants do better than the norm, doing more than what is expected; if your SAT is critical to your college admittance and you’re compared to another applicant who was graded on the 2400 scale, guess who’s not getting accepted.

Still, the SAT’s changes are fast approaching-being put in place in 2015. This largely affects freshmen, giving them both an advantage and a disadvantage. Upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) are not affected by this change at all. For sophomores like me, it all comes down to when you take your test, and what colleges are looking for. Overall, this re-vamp of the SAT puts most highschoolers in a tricky and unwanted position.