I took the 1985 SAT and the 2026 SAT. They're not the same test.

I took the SAT in my 40s, I went to a high school and sat with all the nervous kids and took the thing. Why? Because everyone says the test is broken, biased, buyable, and easier than ever. As an economist, I wanted to know if that's true. So I ran my own experiment. I took the 2026 digital SAT at a real testing center, took the 1985 version at home, and roped two current students into doing the same. The results surprised us all. Also in this video: the strange origins of the SAT (thanks, Manhattan Project guy), whether it's an IQ test, why the $500 million test prep industry might be selling statistical noise, the problem with almost all SAT research, and the results of the massive natural experiment when colleges went test-optional during the pandemic. As always, all my sources and more behind the scenes info are over on Substack: https://econnerds.substack.com/p/i-to... Be sure to subscribe and follow us on X for more: https://x.com/Econ_Nerds