Is the SAT Harder Than It Used To Be?

In a word, yup.

At least if I'm to judge by the May 1997 SAT I took today (full, timed) out of the College Board RED Book (not to be confused with the Blue Book).

I felt like one of those tennis players with the wooden racquets.

First of all, it's an hour shorter.  Then, add to that the fact that each section is 5 minutes longer (which actually feels like an hour when you're used to running like the wind, under the gun for an extra hour).  It's like the marathon you were training for just became 18 miles instead of 26.2.  And they gave you Nike Airs instead of Converse.

That's what it felt like.

The math seemed to be sans "tricks" as far as I can tell, but I haven't had time to go back and study it carefully. No question though, easier.  I actually finished a section and went back and checked my answers. I haven't even come close to that on the current SAT.

Here are the take-aways:

1) If you're looking for more reading passages (i.e you've run out of Blue Book material), these are legit.  Same deal (but with the extra time allotted, which you can adjust accordingly if you want to).  The "Verbal" sections also have the analogies, but I think it's still a good exercise for the new SAT (i.e. thinking deeply about the meaning of words).

2) I think the math is legit practice too -- unless you're on the high end of the spectrum, and then I think this will be too easy.

3) Full recap of the experience in the video above (including my score).

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis