The SAT, taken (endured?) by more than 1.5 million high school seniors each year, is getting a radical makeover aimed at focusing the college entrance exam more closely on key academic skills. The College Board, a New Jersey firm that creates and scores the reading, writing and math test, last week announced its first major overhaul since 2005. Starting in spring 2016, students will take a very different test. "It is time for an admissions assessment that makes it clear that the road to success is not last-minute tricks or cramming, but the learning students do over years," says David Coleman, the College Board's president. "It's time to shake things up."

Here's what will change: There will be no quarter-point penalty for wrong guesses on multiple-choice questions; math and reading portions will focus more on reasoning; the timed essay becomes optional and will have a separate score; and archaic, obscure vocabulary words will be replaced by ones students actually could read or hear in college. Lastly, a 1600-point scoring scale will be revived.

Critics say the SAT and other standard tests only predict a student's ability to take the test, which hampers low-income students whose families can’t afford private preparation classes. High school performance is a much better way to predict college success, studies suggest. Nearly a third of colleges and universities no longer require test scores. "We found there was no direct correlation between academic success on our campus and the SAT," says Angel Perez, the head of admissions at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif. The 88-year-old test has slipped behind the rival ACT, a shorter exam with an optional essay, in total student customers. The revised SAT will be available on paper and computer.

Admissions officer says: "As a predictor of student success, a 25-minute essay isn't going to tell us a great deal." -- Stephen Handel, University of California associate vice president of undergraduate admissions

College Board says: "Some test-prep providers intimidate parents at all levels of income into the belief that the only way they can secure their child's success is to pay for costly test preparation and coaching." – David Coleman, president

Critic says: "The College Board can change the test all it likes, but no single exam, given on a single day, should determine anyone's fate. . . . A better way of revising the SAT . . . would be to do away with it." -- Jennifer Finney Boylan, English professor at Colby College in Waterville, Maine