A majority of recent SAT test takers would have preferred to take the newly expanded test on several different days, according to survey results released by Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions on Tuesday.
According to Kaplan's press release, 65 percent of the 525 Kaplan students surveyed said they would have preferred to take the different sections of the test on different days. Students were not, however, in favor of having a long break between the different testing days; 67 percent said they would want the time between all sections of the exam to be less than one week.
These survey results follow the recent restructuring of the SAT exam in 2005. The test now is three hours and 45 minutes in length and contains math, verbal and writing sections. Prior to 2005, the SAT exam had only math section and one verbal section and took three hours to complete.
"The issue of the length and the issue of the way the test is proctored are the issues that came to the fore [in the survey]," said Jon Zeitlin, general manager for SAT/ACT Programs for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions.
High school senior Amanda Andrei faced the new exam in order to gain her early acceptance to the University.
"The length of the old [SAT] was better," Andrei said. "I took the new SAT and it was really awful. You would just turn the page and be like, 'Oh God, there's another section!'"
The College Board has no immediate plans to change the structure of the test.
"We're always looking at ways to improve the SAT," College Board spokesperson Caren Scoropanos said. "However, there is no indication that we're going to divide the test at this time."
Any change to the SAT test would take a long time to develop and implement, Scoropanos said. The addition of the writing section in 2005 took several years to develop, as the College Board seeks advice from its member colleges and universities before making changes, Scoropanos said.
Proctoring the test over several days also could create financial problems, Scoropanos said, as additional testing centers and proctors would be needed.
Students who could afford to take each section multiple times might also gain an advantage over other students, Scoropanos said.
Andrei also said she thought students could be disadvantaged by a potential change.
"You would have to devote the entire two days to it," Andrei said, noting that students taking the exam have other academic and extracurricular obligations competing for their time.
The results of the survey may not be an accurate representation of all SAT takers, as the only students surveyed were those who took a Kaplan preparatory class, according to Scoropanos.
"It's a very small subsection of the students who take the exam," Scoropanos said. "There are opinions both ways in the academic community."
Kaplan stands behind its survey research. Zeitlin said although the survey was not entirely random, the results represent the views of a large population of test takers nationwide.
"The reason for the survey isn't because we have a particular opinion one way or the other," Zeitlin said. "We just wanted our students to be heard"
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