It’s coming…resistance is futile…the new SAT is inevitable.

Luckily for us, Collegeboard has finally released 4 official practice tests in the new SAT format. If you’re dying to see what the new SAT will be like, here is the link for those 4 practice tests: https://www.khanacademy.org/sat

Collegeboard was even nice enough to include answer explanations for the questions, and its partnership with Khan Academy has yielded some video answer explanations as well. Unfortunately, both of their explanations are sorely lacking. You’ll likely need additional help to help you make sense of these very sparse explanations.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be taking these 4 tests myself, much in the same way I took the only official new PSAT not too long ago (post-mortem write up about that HERE).

Unfortunately, there are still no score conversions, so you won’t know what, say, missing 10 questions actually means for your score. That’s because these tests have not been calibrated and tested with real students, which is why I recommend NOT taking any real new SATs in all of 2016, or even parts of 2017. Wait until more information is released, strategies have been developed, and such.

If you’re a current junior/rising senior, stick with the current SAT and finish by Jan 2016. You do NOT want to get stuck with the March 2016 new SAT.

If you’re a current sophomore/rising junior, I’d stick with the ACT entirely. Fewer changes to the ACT (though there are still some, which I’ve been keeping careful track of, such as weird science sections on both the February and April 2015 tests).

If you’re a current freshman/rising sophomore, then you’ll have a choice: either the current ACT or the new SAT, but wait a year before you decide which test is better for you. By then, the new SAT will be mature and ready for real students to take seriously.

Good luck!