Three hours. One screen. A countdown clock fixed at the top.
That’s what standardized testing looks like now. But after three months of preparing for the online-only SAT, I’ve realized something: I think better on paper.
Before taking the September SAT, I learned through an online tutoring program, which included attending WebEx meetings and completing pages and pages of digital worksheets. All of the practice was online.
After the September SAT, my parents didn’t want to pay another $3,000 for online tutoring before the March SAT. So I self-studied and printed practice tests out — annotating passages, circling mistakes and working through problems by hand — to prepare for my next SAT.
As my score got better and better on each practice test, it became clear: paper-based testing is more effective than digital formats at fostering active thinking and conceptual understanding.
And “testing” includes the entire testing process — practice included.
When working through questions on paper, whether in English, math or science, deeper processing occurs. Handwriting requires more complex motor and sensory processing than typing, which can strengthen memory and the ability to tackle conceptual problems, according to a 2025 neuroscience study in Life, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
A multiple-choice online test requires little to no writing. This means students’ conceptual understanding decreases. While online testing is quicker, allowing testers to navigate questions rapidly, the benefit isn’t worth the trade-off of weaker memory and recall.
In a 2021 report in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, those who wrote notes by hand performed better on conceptual questions than those who took online notes on the same topic. Researchers attributed this to the fact that online, students often transcribe almost word-for-word, which leads to shallow processing, while handwriting forces summarizing and rephrasing. This means your brain is actively thinking about the question as a whole, not just individual words and phrases.
Even on paper quizzes in class, I spend more time thinking about each question. Annotating on paper helps me break down complex questions and talk myself through math problems and passages, reducing my tendency to overthink.
When I’m taking digital quizzes, I speed through questions without giving them much thought. Online, once a question is answered, it’s gone; the screen has changed. On paper, it sticks in my head and connects to other questions on the quiz because I’m able to see what I answered on previous questions.
Then there’s the blatant reason why paper-based testing is superior to digital: digital testing asks students to stare at a screen for around three hours — a format that strains attention and focus.
High screen exposure is associated with lower attention, working memory and processing speed in young adults, according to a 2024 study published in the Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare. Given how much my eyes hurt after the digital ACT in February, this isn't surprising.
Plus, being on a screen is distracting. No matter what. Even when my screen is locked in testing mode, I still get distracted by the interactive tools and moving parts on both the SAT and ACT. During a test, I should be focused solely on the questions. Not on colorful highlighters and digital annotation features that take forever to click and drag.
Multitasking is ingrained in online testing. The test can’t be completed without constantly switching between on-screen questions and digital tools, which forces my brain into task-switching instead of sustained focus on just the question in front of me.
All of this said, I have to be practical. Of course, the SAT won’t switch back to paper — that would be going back in time. But for now, the ACT is offered both online and on paper. Choose paper.
And although paper testing allows for better cognitive engagement and focus than digital testing, all standardized testing will likely become digital in the future. But just because the tests are online doesn’t mean your studying has to be.
Prepare for online tests using paper materials: mark up questions, have mental conversations to tackle problems and build skills that transfer to a digital format.
In the end, online testing is more beneficial to testing centers than to students. Scoring is easier, there’s heightened security and less paper is used — which is great for trees and testing companies’ costs — but it’s optimized for efficiency and control on their end, not for deep learning on ours. It doesn’t change the fact that my brain learns better with paper than on a screen.
I took the SAT on March 14. I’ll get my score back in the next few days. And to the 10 practice tests I completed on paper — don’t fail me.
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