Test takers express mixed feelings about SAT changes

They’re being called the most sweeping changes in 11 years, but some say the revisions are watering down the SAT’s academic standards.

For decades, the standardized test has been considered a benchmark used by American colleges and universities to recruit freshman students.

Traditionally challenging, the new SAT will now eliminate penalties for wrong answers and make optional the essay portion.

But what has many talking is the revision of the vocabulary section. Obscure words such as “lachrymose,” “obsequious,” “engendered” and “trenchant” will now be removed.

The college board that created the SAT said the changes reflect what students need to know after high school.

“Oh, you need to take the SAT. It’s a requirement to graduate,” UTEP student Ana Acosta said.

“The SAT was the most stressful time of my life,” UTEP student J.C. Navarrete said.

“Cramming a lot of late nights,” added student Steve Martinez.

If you’ve had the pleasure — or misfortune — of taking the three-hour test, then you know the pressure that comes with it.

“Kids really stress a lot,” said Ian Rydholm, executive director of the Sylvan Learning Center, which has been helping students prep for the SAT for more than 20 years.

While some have criticized the latest changes, Rydholm said changes were needed.

“I felt it was time for it to change. A lot of times the material that was on the SAT was not as relevant to the students school work,” Rydholm told ABC-7.

But without penalties for wrong answers and the option to opt out of the essay, could the test be easier?

“It’s a very different test from the previous one but I do not feel it’s a weaker test,” Rydholm said.

Rydholm added the SAT changes do not undermine the education or vocabulary of students planning on taking their education to the next level

“I don’t feel that’s the case. The way it is presented it is still very strong and the student still needs to be strong with the skills,” Rydholm said.

Students with whom ABC-7 spoke are both for and against the revised vocabulary portion of the test and the removal of common SAT words.

“In the spirit of keeping things evolving in the 21st century get rid of them, nobody uses them,” Navarrete said.

“Part of the SAT challenge was to prove that you were educated at a higher level so taking it out kind of gives a handicap and makes a more even playing field but it kind of takes away the advantage for those who have earned it through studying and happen to know those words,” Martinez said.

Rydholm told ABC-7 now that these changes have been made more people have been signing up to take the test.