Students across the nation took the first round of the newly redesigned 2016 SAT on Saturday, March 5.

This renovated version of the renowned standardized test differs from the previous edition with major changes including the optional essay, no penalty for guessing, and being scored out of 1600.

“Previously the SAT relied on things that were peculiar to them; certain favored ways of asking questions in both the math and the verbal [sections],” Principal Tom Mead said. “You had to learn a lot more about how the SAT tested, what were good strategies to take… and different factors of testmanship. That is disappearing to a greater extent. So to me, the test is more open, more fair, and a lot closer to the kind of testing the other big contender in this field is, the ACT.”

150 Algonquin students took the test this past weekend with varied assessments on how the test went.

“I liked it a lot better than the old SAT,” junior Kate Crimmings said, who took the former edition last November. “It’s more curriculum based so it pertains to stuff we’ve learned in school rather than applying our knowledge to problems we’ve never seen before.”

“The math session was harder than I expected but the readings were much more straightforward,” junior Sai Ekbote said. “The essay was a lot like AP Language [and Composition] essays.”

In addition to student reviews, several teachers analyzed the new test.

“For the verbal [section] it’s definitely different,” world language department chair Angela Mott said, who also teaches the SAT Prep Course. “But the concepts are the same and they are testing the same basic things.”

“I spoke to kids in my Pre-calc Honors class and I had five kids who took [the new SAT] and I had varying responses,” math and SAT Prep Course teacher Elizabeth Dore said. “I had once student who said the math section was a lot harder than he expected it to be. But others disagreed. Another student said they thought the math section was less tricky than the previous one. Which is in line with what the College Board is trying to do with the new SAT.”