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Articles / Applying to College / Old or New SAT for Class of 2006?

Old or New SAT for Class of 2006?

Sally Rubenstone
Written by Sally Rubenstone | July 13, 2004

Question: I will graduate from high school in 2006 and am deciding whether to take the new and/or the old SAT I. I am at the top of my class and plan on attending an elite college. The Princeton Review recommends taking only the new SAT while Kaplan strongly suggests taking both. Is it worth studying for two different tests or should I just focus on the new one? I am worried about the time and, especially, the cost of prepping for two tests.

You ask a good question, and much time and energy (along with many keystrokes) have already been expended as counselors, teachers, and admission officials debate this issue.


Just as Kaplan and Princeton Review hold differing views, so, too, do many other experts. We advise you to take only the new SAT. Don't waste your time (or money) prepping for both. While many colleges will accept results from either test, some have indicated that they will accept (or at least prefer) the revised version. Thus, we suggest that you direct your energies toward preparing for that.

Written by

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.

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