The college admissions landscape has changed dramatically since the pandemic, and standardized testing remains one of the biggest sources of confusion for students and parents. Some colleges require SAT or ACT scores, others allow students to decide whether to submit them, and some won’t consider test scores at all. Adding to the uncertainty, admissions policies can change from year to year, so what was true for one application cycle may not apply to the next.
Below, we break down the three major testing policies—test optional, test required, and test blind—and explain how your student can make strategic decisions that improve their chance of being admitted into the colleges on their school list.
Why Colleges Went Test-Optional During the Pandemic
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted nearly every aspect of the college admissions process. SAT and ACT tests were canceled, testing centers closed, and many students faced travel restrictions or health concerns that made testing inaccessible.
To promote fairness and expand access, many colleges adopted test-optional admissions policies, allowing students to apply without standardized test scores. While many institutions initially viewed this as a short-term solution, some have since made test-optional admissions a long-term or permanent policy.
Why Some Colleges Are Switching Back
While most colleges remain test optional, a growing number of selective universities have returned to requiring ACT or SAT scores as a part of admissions materials, having decided that standardized testing provide insight into a student’s application. Institutions including MIT, Yale, Brown, Harvard, Georgetown, and Dartmouth have reinstated SAT or ACT requirements after reviewing years of admissions data since the pandemic.
One of the primary justifications used by these universities is that they have observed notable variation in high school grading practices. As grade inflation in high schools has become more common, admissions officers have found it more difficult to compare students from different schools using GPA alone. Standardized tests, in contrast, provide a common academic benchmark that helps place grades and coursework into context.
For example, Stanford announced it would resume requiring standardized tests after finding that submitted scores offered meaningful insight into student success. The university concluded from their assessment that test scores were predictive of academic performance and helped differentiate applicants from a wide range of educational backgrounds.
While many colleges still allow students to apply without scores, many universities are evaluating whether standardized tests provide valuable information to admissions officials as they review applications.
What Do Test Required, Test Optional, and Test Blind Mean?
Test Required
Students must submit standardized test scores as part of their application. Admissions committees consider scores alongside grades, coursework, essays, and extracurricular involvement. Test-required policies remain common at many highly selective and selective institutions.
Test Optional
Students may choose whether to submit SAT or ACT scores. If submitted, strong scores can strengthen an application. If students choose not to submit scores, admissions committees evaluate the other components of an application without penalizing applicants for not submitting test results.
Test Blind
Test-blind colleges do not consider SAT or ACT scores. Even if students send scores, they are excluded from the admissions review process.
It’s essential for your student to understanding the differences between these policies while building a college list and applying to universities.
Why Test Scores Still Matter—Even When They’re Optional
Although many colleges are still test optional, standardized testing scores can play an important role in whether your student is accepted to a university. Rather than viewing standardized tests as a burden, you and your student should think of them as one more tool available to showcase academic readiness.
Stronger Applications
Strong scores can reinforce an applicant’s academic preparation and provide another data point that supports the overall application.
Comparative Clarity
Test scores provide an objective academic benchmark that helps colleges evaluate your student against other applicants from different high schools. If your student attends a particularly competitive high school (or one that doesn’t rely on grade inflation), test scores can demonstrate that your student is as qualified as students with higher class grades.
Scholarship opportunities
Many merit scholarships use standardized test scores as part of their eligibility criteria. While a school might be test optional, that doesn’t always mean scholarshisp at that university are.
Used strategically, test scores can strengthen applications, providing useful information to reviewers and opening additional opportunities.
How to Decide Whether to Submit Test Scores to a Test-Option School
Every student’s situation is different, but you and your student might consider the following when deciding whether or not to submit their ACT or SAT test scores with their application:
- How do your student’s scores compare with the college’s middle 50% admitted student range? Are they comparable? Higher, even?
- Are scores needed to receive merit-based scholarships from a university?
- Are your student’s official scores consistent with their practices tests? If not, are they planning re-testing to try to improve their official scores? Before submitting scores, your student should look into whether they can send their official scores after their application, giving them time to take an additional test.
Final Tips for Students Applying to Test-Optional Colleges
At The Enrichery, we usually encourage students to submit test scores to test-optional schools. Almost always, test scores don’t hurt an application. They make it stronger. When competitive, test scores complement a student’s academic story and demonstrate hard work and readiness for college-level work—and that is especially true when test scores reflect a student’s best effort.
This doesn’t mean your student should obsess over getting the highest possible test score, however. Even at test-required schools, a high score does not guarantee admittance. Admissions officials always look at applications holistically, meaning a student’s coursework, grades, extracurricular involvement, essays, and recommendation letters are alsol weighed before making a final decision to admit, deny, or waitlist a student.
If you’re unsure whether your student should submit test scores, our college admissions consultants can help evaluate your student’s academic profile, testing results, and college list to develop a personalized admissions strategy. Contact us today if you or your student are interested in test preparation or comprehensive admissions guidance!
