College Board Redesigns SAT Exam Making Essay Portion Optional
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The College Board will make the essay portion of its SAT admissions test optional starting in 2016 and eliminate esoteric vocabulary words, a move likely to be embraced by high school students and their parents.
Scoring will return to a maximum of 1,600 points for math and evidence-based reading and writing, and the optional essay will be scored separately, the College Board, which administers the test, said yesterday. Students will need to show critical-thinking skills by analyzing science and history texts.