In Oct. 2023, the College Board implemented its first digital Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), switching from a standardized paper-based exam to an adaptive online version. The purpose of this change was to make the test more secure and relevant to a student’s academic abilities.

The new test came with a variety of changes, including a shorter timespan, having fewer questions, and incorporating Multistage Adaptive Testing, which adjusts the difficulty level of questions according to the student’s skill level. 

The digital version also allowed for features that could not have been implemented in the paper version.

“I think the biggest difference was just having a desmos calculator be available to you during the math questions,” Marco Wang, a junior at LHS, said.

Students believe that the digital PSAT was easier to take and study for, especially the reading section, where passages were much shorter for each question. 

“I didn’t spend as much time as I normally would focusing on reading because it was a lot easier for me to focus on short paragraphs to answer one question, rather than answer multiple questions from one long passage,” Mirei Saneyoshi, a junior at LHS, said.

Many students preferred the digital version because of helpful changes, such as the texts being right next to the questions.

“It was a lot easier to navigate around. I didn’t have to flip back and forth between pages when needing to refer back to the passage which was nice,” Saneyoshi said. 

Additionally, the digital test assesses students’ skills in a more holistic manner by giving students more time to answer each question as opposed to testing their speed. Students found this new model to be more reflective of their academic capabilities.

“I think that now and in the future, it is more important for standardized tests like these to be able to reflect our knowledge rather than our speed when answering questions,” Saneyoshi said.