You may have heard that the SAT is in the process of being overhauled. If you're a 10th grader now, what does that mean for you?

The first administration of the NEW SAT will be in March of 2016. You'll most likely be taking your standardized tests in the spring of 2016 or fall of 2016, so if you were to take the SAT, then you would most likely be taking the NEW test. Here's how we recommend tackling your test prep:

Do some test prep this summer, focusing on the ACT rather than the SAT.

Doing intensive test preparation for the SAT during this summer would be tricky, because it is unclear at this point whether the makers of the SAT will have unveiled enough about the structure of the NEW SAT in time for the test prep companies to revise their curricula by this summer. So we can't advise that you invest in doing test prep that might not even be related to the test you will be taking.

Plan on taking the ACT.

First, the ACT will be stable, so students can prepare for it on this longer timeline. Second, many students do as well as, or better on, the ACT than they do on the SAT, so the more stable ACT is the safer bet in the "transition" year.

And here's a nice bonus.

Even if you end up taking the NEW SAT, the prep you will have done for the ACT will serve you well, because the SAT is changing to be MORE LIKE the ACT, so much of the prep you do for the ACT will transfer over to the NEW SAT.

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