NEWS

Test Score Requirements are Back

by Jane Gao

Back in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world, which had a big impact on schools and education. With online classes during quarantine, the ability to sit for tests like the SAT and ACT was limited, prep classes were canceled, and assessing these tests was difficult. This led many schools to implement a test-optional policy that allowed students to apply without needing to submit a test score. Some of these decisions were temporary, while other schools permanently adopted the policy. Even post-COVID, many schools continued to drop the standardized test score requirement as it opened up new opportunities for many people. With one major application requirement removed, colleges and universities saw a vast increase in applications as a whole with a much more diverse group of applicants. Allowing the submission of test scores to be optional, students needed to present other areas of strength in their application, which seemingly helped to maintain fairness between wealthy and low-income students. Students were able to represent themselves and their strengths through their extracurricular activities and personal essays, allowing schools to realize that there is more to a student than just good scores– which are the result of a test, not a student’s full range of abilities.

Recently, many universities have been requiring test scores from applicants again. This is due to several reasons. First, since COVID, it seems that a higher percentage of students have higher GPAs than seen in previous years. This makes it hard for colleges to determine a student’s academic abilities, especially when grading policies vary between schools and teachers; therefore, SAT/ACT scores give colleges an extra factor that they can use to compare applicants. Second, many schools saw a huge increase in applications these past few years, especially with more selective schools. Students applied hoping their extracurriculars and other factors would help them get accepted, whereas if it was required to submit a test score, many students wouldn’t apply at all if they didn’t meet the school’s average. This has resulted in lowered acceptance rates because the admissions process has become more competitive. 

Whether or not more colleges and universities will follow the lead of schools like Ohio State, LSU, and the University of Georgia is still up in the air. Each day we get closer to the new application cycle, which will determine who else will require SAT/ACT scores. So, the best bet is to start preparing for the tests now just in case.

Here are some recent schools that have started requiring test scores again: 

• Ohio State 

• Brown University

• Cornell University 

• Harvard University 

• University of Texas

• Louisiana State University 

• All Florida public universities

• All Georgia public universities

• Dartmouth College

• Yale University 

• Stanford University 

• Purdue University 

• University of Texas at Austin