The College Board recently announced changes in the SAT beginning in 2016. The changes will affect future test takers with the hope of increasing their chances of success.

Today the test is made up of three sections: critical reading, math and writing, which includes an essay. Each section has 800 possible points, totaling a possible 2400.

Senior Tiffany Atud said, “To achieve acceptable scores for college, I took the SAT twice. The critical reading section was a particularly difficult section for many of my classmates due to the elaborate vocabulary and analysis.”

The modified SAT will be scored out of 1600 points rather than the 2400 that has been in effect for nine years. The required essay portion is also being dropped and will become optional.

College counselor, Randall Fong, said, “I believe the changes are beneficial for the student and cause less stress in the studying process. The SAT will now be more in line with the ACT concerning content and structure. For the optional essay, students must remember to check with colleges to confirm whether or not it is required for the admission process.”

The critical reading and writing multiple choice sections will be merged to create a new “evidenced-based reading and writing” section. Vocabulary in the section will be less elaborate and will focus on words commonly encountered in college and career. Additionally, the math section will focus on problem-solving and data analysis. There will no longer be a quarter point deduction for wrong answers. An online version of the test will be available at certain locations.

The College Board will offer free test-preparation tutorials online in partnership with Khan Academy. While paid test-prep classes sometimes have an advantage for students who able to pay, the free tutorials have the purpose of leveling the playing field.

Eighth grader Madeleine Sing said, “College seems like a while from now and I won’t be taking my SAT until junior and senior years, but learning about the prep classes makes me think I can prepare myself well before the test date.”

The overall purpose of the SAT redesign is to make the test more relevant to what is taught in high school and less challenging for the average student.