For the past four years, major colleges and universities have had the option for applicants to apply to their schools under the “test-optional” process, including the SAT and ACT scores.
However, moving forward, this policy may not remain. In recent weeks, big-name schools, including Yale University and Dartmouth College have announced new policies reversing the test-optional policy.
In Dartmouth’s case, the school has fully reinstated the test-mandatory policy, mandating all students for the Class of 2029 submit their standardized testing scores. However, Yale has taken a more flexible approach allowing applicants to submit their scores from either their ACT, SAT, AP or IB tests.
“The shift going back to test required will impact the schools that students apply to. Before COVID, the test scores would narrow the schools a student would apply to, and then COVID opened up the ability of schools a student could apply for because of test-optional, but now it is reshifting back to test required,” College Assistance Program Advisor Linda Dwyer said.
The changes for the test policy under Yale and Dartmouth’sapplications are set to allow students from low socioeconomic backgrounds to demonstrate their strong test scores compared to their school’s average.
Although some schools made the original shift to test-optional, other schools never made the switch and have always asked for test scores as a mandatory part of the application. All Florida public undergraduate schools have required standardized test scores and have not adjusted their academic policies to include test-optional applications.
“Some schools have always been optional and some shifted to it since COVID. Since COVID, some are maintaining their test-optional status but some are going back to test required. For Florida students, it does not impact us [as much] because our students have to take the SAT or ACT to apply to Florida schools,” Dwyer said.
While public undergraduate schools in Florida have not modified their test policy, the University of California school system has adopted a test-blind policy meaning the ACT and SAT are not considered in an applicant’s application.
Although universities have begun to release their consideration of testing as a factor, many schools have yet to release a statement regarding testing for the 2024-25 school year.
