What Do Stuyvesant Students Think About the Digital SHSAT?

Hannah Moon

Interviewee: David Son, junior

“I think that the digital SHSAT is a worse representation of a student’s intellectual capacity than the paper SHSAT, but it’s good for our environment.”

Hannah Moon

Interviewee: Dickson Jiang, junior

“I think the digital SHSAT is worse because it’s easier to think on paper than it is on a device.”

Hannah Moon

Interviewee: Isabel Zheng, junior

“It’s so much harder to pay attention to the test, especially for younger students.”

Zoe Lee

Interviewee: Melody Lin, sophomore

“I think it’s really unfair, and I also think it gives an advantage to those who are taking it digitally. There’s just no reason to change the system.”

Zoe Lee

Interviewee: Crystal Wu, junior

“I feel bad for my brother.”

Zoe Lee

Interviewee: Vivian Ye, junior

“The digital version has time limits. And then you have to wait; you just lose concentration.”

Zoe Lee

Interviewee: Lin Chen, freshman

“The paper version is better.”

Mufei Yu

Interviewee: Evelyn Lifton, sophomore

“Although some tests going digital seem beneficial, the fully multiple choice format of the SHSAT makes the paper version far better. A lack of scrap paper, less opportunity to mark up passages, and difficulty flipping back and forth makes the digital versions of tests far less convenient. Personally, I think I would have done worse and been less focused if I took the digital version of the SHSAT.”

Lyla Storm

Interviewee: Nina Quane, sophomore

“Although I kind of understand why they did this, digitization seems generally bad since it prevents students from taking the test at their own pace. I hope they change it back.”

Emily Johnson

Interviewee: Olivia Lau, freshman

“I think the change in format will definitely influence how students will score. This would have made the SHSAT significantly more difficult for me, and I feel bad for those who started studying for the SHSAT before this change became official.”

Stella Krajka 

Interviewee: Dafina Burlakova, sophomore 

“I personally work a lot better with pen and paper. I think being able to physically annotate and read what you need to is very helpful. Although it might make the SHSAT easier to grade, I think that, overall, people might do worse.”

Abigail Cho

Interviewee: Justin Yoo, junior

“Personally, I don’t believe the SHSAT should be digitized. As seen with the SAT, the digitized version proves to be easier for the majority of people, and the SHSAT—which is designed to be difficult—shouldn’t be a similar situation to the SAT.” 

Jennifer Zheng

Interviewee: Emily Kwo, freshman 

“I think it will be more difficult to concentrate because you don’t have the physical test right in front of you, so you might not do as well and have trouble concentrating on a device.”

Amy Mitchneck

Interviewee: Yahli Efraim, freshman

“I think it will be similar to the effect that digitizing the SAT had. Taking the test will be a lot more annoying. Besides that, there’s definitely environmental factors to be considered.”

Gavin Cheng 

Interviewee: Benjamin Klare, freshman 

“I think the digital SHSAT is bad because staring at a screen for three hours is not good for the eyes.” 

Lucia Fajardo

Interviewee: Kayla Cheung, freshman

“I know that administrators probably think that digitalizing the SHSAT will make it easier for the students, but there may be tech issues that can cause unnecessary stress for test takers.”

Ken Wakida

Interviewee: Stanley Lin, sophomore

“I don’t think it will matter that much as long as the difficulty of the test is the same. There might be more people who would try to cheat since it’s on a computer.”

Ellis Thompson

Interviewee: Rafael Zornoza, junior

“Like with the SAT, the digitization of the SHSAT makes the test feel more routine and relaxing to take.”

Jayden Kim

Interviewee: Henry Li, sophomore

“Why are they digitizing everything? I already had to sit through the physical one too many times while prepping.”

Anna Zheng

Interviewee: Betty Jiang, senior

“Personally, I would prefer taking a paper test, but I understand the benefits to having it digital.”