Anxiously pressing the reload button, students waited for their unknown SAT scores. Students expected their scores to be released on March 21, but the March 8 SAT results were nowhere to be found.
According to the College Board, SAT scores come out two weeks after the test date. The March SAT scores were no different, set to release on March 21. However, facing unexpected delays, many students still await their scores. College Board acknowledged the issue, but didn’t provide a clear timeline for when scores would be available.
“It was supposed to come out last Friday [March 21], but it still hasn’t come out yet,” junior Samya Trivedi said. “After nearly a week of waiting, I emailed them and they said my score would be out in 48 hours [March 23], and I ended up receiving it March 24.”
The delay may be linked to technical issues encountered by College Board during the March 8 SAT. Test coordinators were asked to make sure students restart Bluebook to prevent the test from automatically submitting at 11 a.m.
“Since our tests had already begun, I consulted with College Board and they recommended that our students do the restart during the break in between test sections,” ACT & SAT test coordinator Kristin Dreyer said. “The restarts were successful; as a result, none of our students got locked out of their tests at 11 a.m.”
Although the test ended without any technical issues, the delay in scores led students to seek answers from College Board. Some received estimated timelines for their scores, while others continued to wait for updates. The lack of clear communication only added to the growing frustration among students.
“At first, I didn’t think too much because I figured it would be released by the end of the day, but I checked again on Saturday morning [March 22] and got stressed out because I hadn’t received one of the emails about cancelling or reporting my score,” junior Isabella Pazos said. “I called College Board and they told me they were facing technical difficulties in releasing scores.”
While the College Board has promoted the digital SAT as a more efficient and streamlined experience, delays like this raise questions among students.
“Because I haven’t heard many cases of delayed results when the SAT was on paper, I’m questioning if moving it online will make delays more common,” Pazos said.
