But with the SAT's switch to a new digital format, just how useful is this latest incarnation of the venerable test prep tome? Why buy a book printed on paper when the test is now taken on-screen?
These are good questions.
The new edition contains four non-adaptive paper versions of the digital SAT – the very same "linear" tests made available as free downloads to students everywhere – which are roughly 70% identical to the four official adaptive on-screen tests contained in the College Board's BlueBook app (the only official tests available in on-screen adaptive form).
So that's even less reason to buy the book, right?
Right. Except for one thing.
Currently, there's a severe scarcity of official SAT practice materials (this happens each time the College Board decides to overhaul the test). Every new official SAT question made available to the public for practice gives valuable clues as to what to expect on the test, and is therefore worth gold.
As it happens, the new College Board Official Guide to the SAT contains 192 printed practice questions different from those provided anywhere else. That's nearly the equivalent of two additional full-length digital SAT tests.
So yes, at this point, you should buy the new edition – if only to gain additional practice with those 192 precious questions.
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