After almost four years of relief, college applicants for the Class of 2029 feel a returning sense of dread as some of the most competitive schools in the U.S. begin reinstating standardized testing requirements. 

MIT was the first to announce its post-quarantine return to required score submission in November of 2022, followed eventually by Yale and Dartmouth, among others. 

Since the mid-20th century, standardized testing has been considered a key indicator of expected success in higher education and used as a mainstream college application requirement. Applicants can submit their scores on the more conventional Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), which evaluates students’ math and English skills on a scale of 400-1600, or on the newer alternative, American College Testing (ACT), which adds a science section and evaluates students on a scale from 1-36.

In March of 2020, however, the pandemic threw the traditional college application process into disarray. As testing sites closed for safety, higher education institutions were forced to temporarily adopt what they called a “test-optional” policy; in hopes of supporting those who had not taken the exam before the shutdown, this system gave students the option to omit their scores during the application process. Some schools even became “test-blind” in order to level the playing field, refusing to consider exam scores in any capacity, even from those who took an exam and wished to submit their results to better their application.

However, if test-optional policy was only implemented as a temporary measure, why have so many universities continued it long after testing sites have reopened? And, of course, if it is valuable enough to maintain, why are some of America’s most prestigious universities suddenly returning to their pre-pandemic evaluation processes?

Those In Favor of Test-Optional Admissions

Recent studies have shown that the use of standardized tests in college applications has hurt the odds of non-native English speakers, first generation applicants, Black and Hispanic students, immigrant students, students from under-resourced areas, and those whose families are unable to afford expensive preparation programs or to take the test multiple times for the best possible score.

Essentially, removing standardized testing as a requirement reduces a barrier for high-achieving students from underrepresented backgrounds, so schools that implemented test-optional or test-blind policies saw an uptick in campus diversity.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this equitable impact had already convinced over 1,000 colleges to join the test-optional movement, including the University of Chicago in 2018, Ithaca College in 2010, and Bowdoin College—the first ever test-optional college—as early as 1969. UChicago’s officials report that they were thrilled with the diversity they saw after going test-optional, and the only adjustment required to sustain this change was to increase their financial aid budget to support the rise in enrollment of lower-income students.

According to NBC, when four Cornell colleges went test-optional and three test-blind at the start of the pandemic, the university received a staggering 71,000 applications rather than its usual 50,000. Other test-optional and test-blind schools saw a similar increase in applications, and a majority of new candidates—especially ones who did not submit scores—were students from underrepresented backgrounds and under-resourced areas. According to Cornell’s vice provost for enrollment, Jon Burdick, this is evidence that students who performed lower than they had hoped on standardized tests felt that they could not apply for competitive schools like Cornell because their lower scores would single-handedly bar them from consideration. This is not the case, he explains, but making score submission optional relieves a lot of this anxiety. 

Those Opposed to Test-Optional Admissions

Exams like the SAT and ACT have been used for generations to guide placement, determine scholarships and other awards, and simply measure academic performance on a standard scale. In a previous study by Yale University, researchers found that exam scores were the factor that most accurately predicted academic success, whether outside factors were controlled or varied. In general, admissions officers have maintained that more evidence is always better than less, and exams provide further insight into a student’s academic achievements.

Though organizations that sponsor the SAT, ACT, and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams have acknowledged that standardized testing appears to favor wealthy, white students, they counter that this disparity is a measurement of educational inequity rather than a factor in it. They urge caution when it comes to abandoning standards that are widely accepted as objective, noting that test-optional policy places more emphasis on subjective portions of an application and increases uncertainty as a result.

Additionally, College Board’s vice president, Priscilla Rodriguez, calls out other admission factors for their biases toward wealth and privilege; some families can afford to hire additional resources for their children, she explains, and some even receive legacy or donor preference. She highlights the SAT as available, accessible, and free to practice for and take.

Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid at Yale, also says that test scores are, overall, not as central to admissions consideration as most people think. “Test scores convey a relatively small amount of information compared with the rich collection of insights and evidence we find in a complete application,” he told YaleNews after the university’s announcement that it would be re-implementing exam score requirements. “I believe standardized tests are imperfect and incomplete alone, but I also believe scores can help establish a student’s academic preparedness for college-level work.” He explains that students often think that submitting a score beneath a certain threshold will hurt their chances at being accepted, when, in reality, there is no clear-cut algorithm for admission. All scores are examined in conjunction with the other key factors of college applications. Additionally, he notes that Yale admits a wider range of exam scores than people believe.

Quinlan also explains that standardized tests provide an opportunity for students attending under-resourced high schools or schools with fewer high-level courses. Though test-optional admission policy would, in an ideal world, not discriminate between students who submit scores and those who do not, Yale’s analyses have shown that those who apply with scores have lower chances of admission. Alarmingly, students from lower-income backgrounds were disproportionately affected.

Other Equity Measures

Whether you believe test-optional admissions promote or harm equity initiatives in higher education, it is important to understand what other measures are being taken by schools to promote diversity and ensure that applications are evaluated in context. Though MIT, Yale, and Dartmouth have chosen to require standardized tests, they have adapted their exam policies, made resources available, and provided students with other options to express themselves when applying.

First, MIT recommends that non-native English speakers submit a language proficiency test alongside their application and posted a chart of ideal scores on its website, alongside free and accessible test preparation resources for students who cannot afford practice exams, tutors, or expensive programs. They also announced that they do not evaluate exam scores in the context of “minimum” or “recommended” results, but only within a student’s particular context. 

Yale, too, will require score submission, but has implemented what it calls a “test-flexible” policy, expanding its list of accepted tests to include Advanced Placement (AP) and IB exams in addition to the conventional SAT and ACT. Because Affirmative Action was struck down in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard in 2023, meaning admissions officers will no longer have access to a student’s race during evaluation, the university has also updated its application questions to include multiple prompt options that allow applicants to speak to their personal experiences and background. Additionally, it has begun using tools like Opportunity Atlas and College Board’s Landscape, which help improve the review process for applicants from under-resourced and lower income areas.

Dartmouth will require SAT or ACT results from students within the U.S., but will allow international applicants to submit SAT, ACT, IB, or AP scores. According to the school’s website, its admissions team is developing a new testing profile that aims to empower students who feel that their scores are low enough to disqualify them by diverting focus away from the “class mean and mid-50 percent range” and highlighting score evaluation within the context of each student and their background.