Every junior in the state of Indiana will be taking the SAT March 1. The SAT became a required graduation qualifying exam in the spring of 2021, according to the Indiana Department of Education; members of the class of 2023 were the first to be required to take it as a graduation requirement.

“The state, for as long as I can remember, has had an assessment requirement,” Assistant Principal Mrs. Jamie Crick said. 

Students have always been required to take some sort of exam to graduate, before the SAT was required students had to take ISTEP or before that it was called the ECA and before that the GQE. 

“So SAT is a better option because at least students can use the SAT for something unlike ISTEP,” Mrs. Crick said.

Students can send the score from the March 1 SAT to colleges to help get in, according to Mrs. Crick. 

“I took [the SAT] twice,” senior Jackson Mehling said. “I thought sending it to colleges would give me a better chance to get in and get scholarships.”

Since the SAT is now administered during school to all juniors, students do not need to sign up or pay the $60 testing fee. Students can opt to take the test additional times, but will be responsible for the fees. Students who do not plan on attending college are still required to take it as part of their Indiana high school graduation pathway.

“A graduation pathway has three different parts to it,” Mrs. Crick said. ““There is a diploma part, so basically that means you are meeting your diploma requirements. The second piece is that you learn and demonstrate employability skills.” 

Students can demonstrate employability skills multiple different waysL by project-based learning like the project students dp in Prep for College and Careers freshman year, service-based learning by doing volunteer work or work-based learning (a job outside of school). 

“Then the third part [of the pathway] is where the SAT fits in – the post secondary ready competency,” Mrs. Crick said.

Student can complete the third part of the graduation pathway with a qualifying SAT score, by taking AP and dual credit classes, or by going to Prosser. There are plenty of ways to mark that check box. The cut score to “pass” the SAT is 480 for the evidence based reading section and a 530 in math.

“It is important to try your best [on the required SAT] because it is something that you can use in other areas,” Mrs. Crick said. “It’s not just for New Albany high school; you can use it and apply it to colleges that you may want to go to.”

Preparing for the SAT can be stressful especially considering other things students have to worry about this time of the year like AP tests and staying caught up in their classes. According to a poll of 85 NAHS juniors, 65.9% say that they do not feel prepared for the SAT.

 “To prepare for the SAT I took some practice exams online and then I also used Khan Academy to look at example problems,” Mehling said.

The entire junior class will take the SAT the morning of March 1.