When you take the CBT, rather than take the test at a specific time and place with other applicants, you make an appointment at a testing facility and take the test on a computer. You have more control during the listening comprehension section than you would if you took the PBT. You can determine how much time you need to spend on each listening question (within the section’s total time limit, of course), and you can set the volume level of the listening passages because you have individual headphones.

Another significant difference between the PBT and the CBT is that the listening comprehension and structure sections of the CBT are computer-adaptive. This means that the first question you’re given in either of these sections is of medium difficulty. If you answer correctly, the next question you receive is more difficult; if you answer incorrectly, the next question is less difficult. Your score depends on the number of questions you answer correctly, but it also depends on the level of difficulty of your questions. The reading and writing sections are not computeradaptive.

The CBT is scored quite differently from the PBT. The total number of points you can score on the CBT is 300. On the PBT, the top score is 677. Colleges and universities are informed of the version of the test you take, so they know the top score you can possibly receive.

CBT scores are reported to institutions within two weeks after taking the test. You can review your unofficial CBT score while sitting at the computer at the conclusion of your test. That score is “unofficial” because the writing section cannot be scored automatically; you can only determine how you performed on the other three sections of the test.