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Last week the College Board officially announced that it would be suspending its plans to offer an online SAT for high school students over the summer. Earlier this year, as the organization was cancelling testing dates due to the coronavirus pandemic, they had hoped to provide an at-home version of the test. But the technological requirements needed to ensure fair testing across the country cannot be guaranteed, and the struggle many students faced submitting their AP Exams – which acted as a test run for the virtual SAT – likely contributed to the College Board’s change of plans.
Currently, the organization plans to offer the SAT starting in August. SAT registration opened in late May with priority given to students who had not yet taken the test. Many August and September SAT dates in large metropolitan areas are already full or nearing their capacity. The surplus of demand conflicts with the need to practice safe testing procedures, including limiting the number of students in a testing facility at a given time.
The College Board asks schools to be patient with students who were unable to take the SAT and who may not get the chance to take it before Early Decision and Early Action periods come this fall. Among their requests for flexibility are asking schools to extend deadlines for test scores for applicants applying early and giving equal consideration to students who will be unable to take the exam. And for students who do submit SAT scores, admissions departments should understand that students may have tested just once and not have had the chance to further improve their score.
Students who have not been able to secure a testing date and are worried about not having a score to submit may want to investigate which schools have adopted test-optional policies for the 2021 admissions cycle. And here at Scholarships.com, we offer a huge variety of scholarships without SAT score requirements. Start your free scholarship search and discover more ways to save for college.