Early takers say new SAT 'wasn't so bad' and not so tricky
The newly redesigned SAT college entrance exam that debuts nationally Saturday is getting good reviews from some of the students who took it early this week.
The new exam focuses less on arcane vocabulary words and more on real-world learning and analysis by students.
The College Board says more than 463,000 test-takers signed up to take the new SAT in March, up slightly from a year ago.
Because the exam is new, the College Board, the nonprofit organization that owns the SAT, has restricted the exam on Saturday to those applying to college or for scholarships, financial aid or other programs requiring a college test score.
Gone: some of those obscure vocabulary words like "lachrymose" that left kids memorizing flash cards for endless hours.
[...] Suarez, who likes to write, said she enjoyed the reading section.
The head of the College Board says students taking the new SAT will find more familiar reading passages, vocabulary words and math.
"The sum of the redesign of the test is to make it much more like the work that kids are already doing in high school," said David Coleman, president and chief executive officer of the board.
Some advice from Lee Weiss, Kaplan Test Prep's vice president of college admissions programs, on taking the new SATs:
Weiss said Kaplan's research of college admissions officers shows that many of the top most-competitive programs for college do look at the essay and it's an important part of their admissions process.
The College Board has teamed up with online educator Khan Academy to offer SAT practice with the new exam — for free — to all students through diagnostic quizzes and interactive practice tests.