You don’t want to be late for school — but you really don’t want to be late for the SAT.
Thousands of teenagers found themselves at risk of a college-entrance catastrophe Saturday outside San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Traffic was backed up for eight blocks, as gridlock overtook the dropoff area. Some kids ran from the I-80 down Third Street just to make it in time.
This alone would have made for a stressful day, as the timed — and completely digital — test is make-or-break for admission to some top colleges. But that was only the start of what will hereafter be known as the SAT from hell.
“It was a total disaster,” one parent said.
“A clusterfuck,” another added.
The trouble began around 8 a.m., when students were ushered into rooms and told to open their personal computers to download the test. But the Wi-Fi wasn’t working in some of the testing areas and stayed glitchy throughout the morning. The connection was restored for some, but not all, students.
As the issues persisted past 11 a.m., some kids decided to leave, while others doomscrolled TikTok or sat anxiously waiting to be told whether they would be able to take the test later that day.
Some of the lucky ones who managed to download the test were instructed by proctors to wait to begin until all of their peers had accessed the exam. Others were told to start taking the test but had to contend with the chaos of loudspeaker announcements and griping students around them, teens in attendance said.
Some students had to wait up to four hours to begin the exam. At 1 p.m., three hours after the test was set to conclude, hundreds of parents and students swirled outside the Moscone Center. Students in Crocs and sweatpants joked about the hardest questions and how they had gone down to the wire to finish the test. They also recounted to their bemused parents that they started the test after some students had finished.
“I couldn’t believe it at first,” said one mom. “My son texted me and said, ‘We haven’t taken the test yet. They can’t get the Wi-Fi going.’ And I thought to myself, ‘That’s bizarre, but I’m sure they’ll start soon.’”
Spoiler alert: Her son never did.
In the end, about 600 of the more than 4,000 students at the Moscone Center were unable to take the test, according to the College Board, which oversees the SAT. But the disruptions for those who did take it could’ve sunk their scores, worried students and parents said.
“After sitting there for about two hours, I think most people just got out of their testing mindsets,” said Emilio Benard, a senior at Foothill High School in Pleasanton who was unable to take the test. “Sadly, those who had to take it didn’t feel prepared anymore.”
There is no guarantee of when students will have the chance for a do-over, since future dates could conflict with sports, jobs, or other extracurriculars. Some fear they won’t be able to retake the test before Nov. 1, the deadline for early-decision applications.
Bernard, like many others, had spent hours studying for the test and hoped it would increase his chances of attending a top-tier college or getting a scholarship.
“Everyone was hoping the test would simply be canceled for everyone after all of the stress,” he said.
“I don’t understand why it is so complicated to have this run smoothly at a time when colleges are putting a lot of pressure on these kids,” said one mom anxiously awaiting her son outside the Moscone Center. “There’s so much intensity.”
Since the SAT went digital in March 2024 to make it less burdensome for staff and students (no more filling in bubbles with pencils), delays and cancellations have been a recurring debacle. A test in May 2024 at Oakland’s Marriott Hotel was canceled after more than 1,000 students waited at the testing center for hours.
The issues with the digital SAT come after the test was abandoned by many colleges, including the University of California system, during Covid out of concerns that it was discriminatory. The SAT is now optional at many universities, though it is making a comeback. Harvard, Caltech, and other highly competitive schools once again require applicants to share their scores from standardized tests like the SAT or ACT.
A lack of testing sites in the Bay Area has forced some students to drive hours — or even get on a plane to another state — in order to take the test at a time that works for them. To address this, the College Board has begun administering large-scale tests at convention centers around the U.S., like the one at the Moscone Center.
“It’s like trying to get camping reservations, where it needs to be eight months in advance,” said one parent who booked multiple testing dates for her kids in case Saturday’s didn’t pan out.
Amid Saturday’s mayhem, parents heard that kids “were starving” because they didn’t have snacks to last through the middle of the afternoon. Others said they weren’t allowed to leave the testing room to grab water.
“It’s not that hard,” a parent bemoaned. “They can do it when I took it in 1985, and they can’t figure it out 40 years later?”
Rishal Melvani, a senior at Monte Vista High School in Danville, waited more than two hours to begin taking the test. But, he said, the last time he took it, he also had to wait.
“The funny thing is that I expected this to happen today,” Melvani said. “For a test that requires your full attention, any distraction is a big deal.”
Wide-scale disruptions to the test have become so commonplace that local tutors have started “proactively talking” students through potential doomsday scenarios, according to Aaron Andrikopoulos, cofounder of AJ Tutoring, based in Burlingame.
“In addition to being a test of what you know, the environment in which you take that test can have a huge impact on how you perform,” said Andrikopoulos, who has tutored kids on the SAT for more than 20 years. “What do you do if things don’t go as planned? How do you keep calm?”
The College Board said it will contact students who weren’t able to take the test in the coming days, offering refunds of $68 to $108 and information on future testing sites and dates.
Leonie Patrick, general manager of the Moscone Center, said it’s “too early” to know what issues occurred with the Wi-Fi. The College Board said the Wi-Fi was tested and functional the day before, but “an issue occurred on the morning of the test.”
“We know this was a stressful and frustrating situation,” the board said, “and we’re very sorry.”