The SAT Informational Night will be held at West on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 5:00 p.m. This event is being held to help familiarize parents and students with the new PSAT/SAT and provide information on what the school is doing to help prepare students for the tests after the switch from the ACT.

For the 2016-2017 school year, the state of Illinois signed a contract with the College Board in which the SAT replaced the ACT. Along with the replacement of the ACT, the SAT has a newer format; the new SAT has a scale of 400-1600, while the old SAT had a scale of 600-2400. Also, the newer test will not take points off due to guessing.

The informational night will begin at  with a presentation from assistant principal of student services Antwan Babakhani on the SAT Suite of Assessments in the auditorium for approximately 30-40 minutes. Afterwards, the annual Open House will begin at 6:00 p.m.

“My expectation is that the night will be run with clarity,” Babakhani said. “It’s important that students, parents and school stakeholders walk away with useful information on the SAT Suite of Assessments.”

Some students said they plan to attend the informational night in order to gather as much information as possible about the new SAT.

“I’m plan on attending [the SAT Information Night] to help me prepare for the new format of the SAT,” junior Hyder Khan said. “I know that this year’s SAT is different and a newer version, so I’m just trying to be as ready as possible.”

Some students at West said they dislike the switch to the newer SAT and would much rather have the ACT in its place.

“I was taking ACT classes during the summer, but they’re obviously not as useful anymore,” junior Jaison Jacob said. “The SAT is a different format than the one I’ve been preparing for, so I feel that it is necessary to go to the informational night and learn as much about the test.”