Some would say that the juniors this year have dodged a bullet, but the sophomores weren’t so lucky.

Beginning next year, all juniors in the state of Michigan will be required to take the SAT instead of the ACT.

For the past eight years the juniors in Michigan have been required to take the ACT.

Schools will continue to give out the ACT WorkKeys tests, but they will now be taken with the SAT.

The reason for this sudden change is simple: using this test will save the state $15.4 million, over three years, compared to the costs of continuing with the ACT.

However, it may cost school officials more.

Many schools have already put forth much effort into preparing students for the ACT, and all of that work will have been for nothing.

This may be good for the state as a whole, but for schools the transition is bound to be rough.

Kearsley’s principal and teachers are looking to make this transition from the ACT to the SAT as smooth as possible.

Principal Brian Wiskur has offered a free ACT prep course to students in the past and wants to do the same for the SAT.

“We want to give Kearsley kids as much help as we possibly can,” Wiskur said. “We’re just going to see what’s out there, what type of resources we can provide, and, obviously, we’ll probably use some type of course to get them ready for the SAT, too.”

With all of this hype surrounding the transition, many students may be wondering what the difference is between the two.

The ACT is more of an achievement test, which looks at what a student has learned in school.

On the other hand, the SAT acts as more of an aptitude test, which judges a student on their ability to use logic to answer questions.

Another major difference is what is in the actual tests. In the ACT, there are five portions: English, mathematics, reading, science, and an optional writing test.

In contrast, the new SAT will have the following parts: a reading test, writing and language test, math test, and an optional writing section that the state of Michigan may require its students to take.

Because changing the required test could affect the admission standards of colleges, juniors this year feel relieved that they do not have to deal with the added stress of taking an unfamiliar test.

“I am not well versed in the details of the SAT, but I feel as if the ACT might be easier to figure out due to the fact that it seems more widely accepted,” junior Brianna Finley said. “There are tutors designated to giving advice, such as how to conquer the ACT, while I am not familiar with hardly any SAT prep courses.”

The SAT may seem completely foreign to students and teachers, but the company has designed a completely new test to better align with Michigan’s standards. The essay will now be an analysis of a source instead of the argumentative prompt students would write in previous years.

In most of the classes at KHS, teachers focus on teaching students to write argumentative essays, but the only classes that really focus on analysis essays are the two AP language and literature classes.

If the school does not change its focus, students may be unprepared for the SAT.

Also, as with the ACT currently, students will not be marked down for wrong answers on the multiple choice section.

The SAT will feature what is called rights-only scoring, meaning only correct answers score points. Therefore, wrong answers do not deduct from the score and blank responses have no impact on the score.

Switching from the ACT to the SAT has already sparked many heated debates.

As in any situation, there are people who believe change is a part of life and should be accepted.

Ms. Laura Pence, Spanish teacher, said, “I think it’s always positive to try something new, and the SAT does correlate more with the Common Core.”

However, many people believe that change, in this case, may just complicate matters.

“I think it’s a negative choice for a college entrance exam,” Wiskur said. “In the state of Michigan over 90 percent of the colleges use your ACT scores as your entrance examination.”

Further information on the new SAT can be found at https://www.collegeboard.org/delivering-opportunity/sat/redesign.

Whether students believe this is a positive or negative substitution, they will have to adjust for the SAT next year in order to get the best score possible.