It would be rather difficult for our 8-14 year-old kids to be taking the pre-1994 SAT. I can't comment on the "even dumber" new one as it's yet to actually be used - the final session for the old one is scheduled for tomorrow, with make-ups going into February.
All of these programs are based on percentiles/standard deviations, so the scoring ranges, ceilings, etc, are somewhat irrelevant. They could make it very hard, and the 98% cut-off could move from 700 to 500, but you'd get the same kids qualifying.
From the PSAT, practice tests, and input from most of the test-prep companies, the new SAT is pretty much identical to the ACT, so it doesn't seem to matter.
If you want to take a test soon, the ACT will get results quicker - College Board is waiting until the March and May tests are scored before establishing their scoring scale and publishing results. So you won't get any results, won't know whether the various cutoffs for admission are met, and won't even know what the cutoffs for admissions are for the SAT for quite some time.
JH SET, Duke RIT, Davidson, etc., have all said (iirc) that qualifying scores for the new SAT won't be available until the fall, at the earliest. ACT cutoffs exist today and won't change.
