The SAT is a standard computer-based exam created by the College Board. The Digital SAT is 2 hours and 14 minutes long and is split into two modules. The Reading and Writing module has 53 total questions and is approximately an hour long. The Math module is 44 questions long and is a little over an hour long. The SAT uses a multistage adaptive format that scores how you do on the first module of each section and determines whether the second module is more or less difficult. The test is scored on a 400 to 1600 scale combining two 200-800 section scores and is taken digitally using devices on the College Board’s Bluebook app.
The average score for the SAT across Massachusetts in 2025-2026 was 1128; comparatively, Mount Greylock’s overall score in 2025-2026 was 1290.
Students and families sometimes hire tutors for the SAT, which can range from forty-five dollars per hour to over one hundred per hour. Studies show that even studying for just six to eight hours leads to a ninety-point score increase.
As of 2026, 90% of colleges do not require the SAT. Colleges began to adopt test-optional admission policies after the pandemic when difficulty accessing testing centers reached its peak. Another reason is the belief that requiring students to submit their SAT scores was not fair or equitable for students who come from less advantaged backgrounds. However, over the past few years, many selective schools have reinstated SAT requirements.
Some students still decide to take the SAT to keep Ivy League options open, qualify for merit-based scholarships, and provide an extra academic accomplishment that may strengthen their application. Colleges may also require SAT scores to award merit-based institutional scholarships. Some students from high schools with fewer opportunities to take Advanced Placement classes, or those with less academic rigor, rely on a high SAT score to be competitive at a selective school.
Walter Love, a student who has a positive view of the SAT, argued that “there is definitely bias towards students who have more resources to study and prepare for the SAT, but this would be true of nearly any standardized test or measure of academic prowess. I think that even though it is not in any way a perfect assessment of a student’s ability, it is one of the best estimates that we have right now.” Other students, such as 11th grader Josie Bay, hold conflicting views on the SAT: “I believe it is a good marker of intellectual talent in areas where some students could be overlooked, like less privileged communities. However, privileged students are able to hire tutors for the SAT to increase their score, making it less of an intellectual indicator and more of an indication of wealth and privilege.”
Some students see no positives in the SAT: “It is not a fair assessment of academic intelligence… You can be smart and be a bad test taker, or you can learn all the Desmos tricks and get a 1600 without being smart. It doesn’t assess your problem-solving skills. It literally tests your memory; that’s not your intelligence,” argued Sunny Cart. Students have conflicting views on the effectiveness of the SAT, but they all agreed that it still plays an important role in their competitiveness as a college applicant. All three students stated that the SAT does not play a major role in their student life at Mount Greylock, and does not affect the way they view their own or others’ intelligence.
The importance of and the way students use the SAT depends heavily on what they are planning to do with it. For instance, some hope to gain scholarships for college or university, while others barely feel the need to take it because most colleges do not require it. Different socioeconomic backgrounds can affect your SAT experience; whether or not a family can afford tutoring directly correlates with score fluctuations, leaving some students relying on good results to secure a scholarship.
In the end, various factors influence final SAT scores and determine how students will use them, depending on whether they plan to attend college or university, or pursue a career immediately after high school.
