Dear parents and students,

The SAT test has been one of the standardized tests to be used for college applications in the United States and other countries around the world. The tests which are organized by College Board are SAT I (Reasoning Test) and SAT II (SAT Subject Test). SAT I, a requirement in US college application, has 3 main parts: Reading, Writing and Language, and Math, with Essay being optional. SAT II, an optional test, is only used for applying to top colleges and universities in the US such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Stanford, … or for applying for scholarships.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, last year, all colleges and universities around the world had positive changes to the application process such as reducing and simplifying the requirements. In order to adapt to this situation, College Board has officially announced changes to the SAT tests:

1. Cancels SAT Subject Tests globally after the June 2021 test applications. Students who have applied for the May and June 2021 SAT Subject Tests have the decision to either continuing the tests or contacting to Customer Service to cancel the tests. The test’s fee will be fully refunded to the students by College Board.
   One of the prime replacements for the SAT Subject Tests is the Advanced Placement (AP) test, which is common due to its accessibility and utility. AP test gives students chances to express their knowledge and skills through college-level subjects like AP Computer Science Principles, along with academic and real-world experience with the subjects. This is what colleges and universities want to see from their upcoming students.
2. Cancel SAT Essay tests after May 2021. Students who have applied for the May 2021 SAT with Essay tests can still continue to do so. Students who have applied for the SAT with Essay tests after May 2021 can cancel the Essay part at any time without any extra fees applied.
   Removing the Essay part in the SAT I tests is the result of the fact that there are many styles of writing for students to choose to show their fluency in their writing skills. In the SAT tests, Reading, Writing and Language are parts that have shown their efficiency in students’ classification.

For further information, please visit: https://allaccess.collegeboard.org/update-simplifying-our-work-and-reducing-demands-students

As the national representative of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) – responsible for the development of the SAT tests, and the division authorized by College Board to organize the test in Vietnam, IIG Vietnam hope that students and parents will have this information in mind in order to apply to colleges and universities worldwide.

With regards,

IIG Vietnam