SAT testing suddenly canceled in Oakland, affecting 1,400 students

A scheduled SAT testing was suddenly canceled in Oakland Saturday due to Wi-Fi issues, the College Board said.

The exams took place at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Oakland.

The College Board, which runs the SAT, said in a statement Saturday that a Wi-Fi problem caused the cancellation and about 1,400 students were affected.

"We know this was an incredibly difficult situation for students who worked hard to prepare for the test. We deeply apologize to all affected students. They will receive a full refund, and we are working to ensure they are able to retest," the College Board said.

The exam proctor said that roughly 400 students were able to complete their exams before the issue started.

Arjun Mulchandani, a junior at the College Preparatory School in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood, was not one of them.

“A lot of colleges are reinstating their SAT requirements or going test-optional from test blind. It’s really, really important,” Mulchandani said.

In the Bay Area, student demand for the SAT exams had exceeded capacity for the weekend tests due to a shortage of available test sites.

That was a reason why Sebastian Gillmore, a junior at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, flew to Dallas, Texas to take the SAT Saturday.

“It’s not OK,” he said.

Gilmore recently wrote an Op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, as he discussed about going out of state for the exam. He compared registering for the SAT to trying to snag a Taylor Swift concert ticket before they sell out. But the Swift ticket, he said is easier to get.

“In a matter of minutes, there were no more testing sites, testing options in Northern California. Pretty much as a whole,” he said.

Sarbani Mulchandan, Arjun's mother, said she had the same problem.

“When the test got canceled for him, we're like OK. There are no more tests available in the Bay Area all the way through next spring,” she said.

Sarbani Mulchandan told NBC Bay Area Saturday that she was willing to look out of state for another exam. But regrets that it's not something everyone can budget for.

The exams usually cost $60 and the fee is going up to $68 this August. Students get four free copies of their scores to send to colleges. But if they need to send scores to more than four colleges, it costs an extra $14 per copy.

“I find it to be mind-boggling that an optional test, something considered 96% as a mandatory or optional metric is such a struggle for California and Bay Area students to be able to access,” Gilmore said.

Here's College Board's full statement on the situation Saturday:

"Today, as the result of a Wi-Fi problem, approximately 1,400 students were unable to complete their SAT exam at a test center in Oakland, CA. We know this was an incredibly difficult situation for students who worked hard to prepare for the test. We deeply apologize to all affected students. They will receive a full refund, and we are working to ensure they are able to retest.

Student demand has exceeded capacity for SAT Weekend administrations in California’s Bay Area because of a shortage of high schools and other institutions willing to serve as SAT Weekend test centers. To accommodate students, College Board contracted with an outside vendor to set up and manage this administration and others at high-capacity test centers in non-traditional locations including hotels and convention centers, adding approximately 6,000 seats in the Bay Area.

We remain focused on doing all we can to meet the capacity needs, and we will revisit vendor processes to ensure students do not encounter problems moving forward."