Two No. 2 pencils and a good night’s rest – these are tools you’ll need to ace the new Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

The SAT allows universities to quickly compare your potential with that of other applicants. College Board, the organization that controls the SAT, has faced concerns in the past of irrelevant material and results that didn’t accurately portray students’ college readiness.

“The ACT is gaining ground, with more and more people taking it over the SAT,” said Seth Rose, the Carolina College Advising Corps representative for Dare County. “They have tried to become more like the ACT, which is supposed to be a reflection of what students have learned in school.”

Rose said that instead of three sections graded on a 2400-scale between math, reading and writing, it’s now going to be a 1600-point scale.

The new test combines the writing and reading sections into one Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section. This deals mainly with questions based on source material, where test takers read and evaluate whole passages, according to CollegeBoard.com. These passages are less fictional and more relevant to what is being taught in schools, with excerpts from historical speeches and documents.

“The best change is the lean away from vocabulary words,” Rose said. “People would study the words beforehand and not even know what they meant.”

Instead, the test looks at what meaning the student can draw from context: “There will also be an essay, which is now optional,” Rose added. “It’s not really optional, though: You should sign up for it because colleges haven’t decided how useful it’s going to be.”

The math section received a small update as well, according to the SAT website. There is more emphasis on charts, graphs, and applied problem solving. “The SAT is also more streamlined now,” Rose said. “You don’t go back and forth between reading and writing and math.”

In addition, wrong answers no longer cost the student points. The College Board urges students to answer every question.

“I knew it would be different for me and all the others taking it this time because we were basically the guinea pigs,” said junior Nicole Castano, who took the SAT for the first time on March 5. “I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be. Honestly, I was just ready for it to be over.”

For the first time ever, College Board has partnered with online learning practice site Khan Academy in order to provide free, personalized online test prep. This material is styled directly after the redesigned SAT, and measures students’ progress and problem areas to help them where they need the most practice.

“You should study,” Rose said. “These tests are gameable, so prep is huge.”

In addition, the test should be more applicable to the prior knowledge students have gained from school, rather than outside tutors and prep courses.

“I think it’ll be better for first-generation students, minority students and low-income students,” Rose added.

Rose also urged students not to be discouraged their first time taking the test: “You should take it as many times as you can, because you’re probably going to get a better score.”

If students are worried about the cost of the SAT, which is now $52.50 for a basic test, they shouldn’t be. Rose said students can get fee waivers. Anyone with free or reduced lunch, for example, can take the SAT two times for free.

Students had mixed reactions to the new SAT, especially since the ACT was offered in school to all North Carolina juniors only days before.

“I thought the SAT was easier than the ACT,” junior Brady Creef said. “The questions were more straightforward, and I think I did very well.”

However, not everyone had a great Saturday morning: “It was the embodiment of stress spread over timed intervals,” junior Chandler Kelly said.

Junior Sarah Skinner can be reached at skinnersa0619@daretolearn.org.