Which Ivies Are Test-Optional for 2026-27? The Full List

If your child is applying to an Ivy League school this fall, the honest answer to "do we still need the SAT" has changed since last year. For the 2026-27 admissions cycle, only two Ivy League universities are test optional: Columbia and Princeton. The other six require the SAT or ACT. And both remaining test-optional doors close at the same moment, for fall 2028 entry.

Last reviewed 2026-09-07 by Olivier. Editorial policy.

That is a narrower window than most families think they have, and the gap between what parents remember and what the policies now say is where real mistakes get made.

Which Ivy League universities are test-optional for 2026-27?

Columbia and Princeton are the only two, and both are in their final test-optional cycle. Princeton states it will return to requiring standardized testing beginning with the 2027-28 admission cycle, affecting applicants seeking to enroll in fall 2028. Columbia announced the same timing in June 2026: it remains test optional for the 2026-2027 admissions cycle and requires SAT or ACT scores from the 2027-2028 cycle, for students enrolling fall 2028.

School	2026-27 policy	Detail
Brown	Required	Required since the 2024-25 cycle. Superscores the SAT and ACT.
Columbia	Test optional, final cycle	Required from the 2027-28 cycle (fall 2028 entry). Waiver available.
Cornell	Required	Reinstated for first-year applicants. ACT science section not required.
Dartmouth	Required	"A required element" of the application. Alternatives exist for schools outside the US.
Harvard	Required	SAT or ACT required, with approved alternatives in exceptional access cases.
Penn	Required	Required, with a hardship waiver covering all applicant types.
Princeton	Test optional, final cycle	Required from the 2027-28 cycle (fall 2028 entry).
Yale	Required	"All first-year and transfer applicants must include scores from the ACT or SAT."

Yale is the change that catches families out

From February 2024 Yale ran a test-flexible policy, where AP or IB scores could stand in for the SAT or ACT. That ended. Yale's current language is unambiguous: "All first-year and transfer applicants must include scores from the ACT or SAT." AP and IB results are still welcome, but as supplements. In Yale's words, "Including AP or IB scores is not required but is encouraged."

If your child was counting on AP scores to satisfy Yale, that plan no longer works. They need to sit the SAT or ACT.

Here is the admission that makes the point better than a warning. When we audited our own Solyo testing map against all eight Ivy admissions pages on 7 September 2026, two of our rows were wrong. We had Yale listed as test flexible, true for two cycles and untrue since 26 May 2026, and Columbia listed as having announced no return to testing, untrue since June 2026. Both are fixed. If a team that tracks this for a living can carry a stale row for three months, a policy you half-remember from a campus tour is not a safe basis for a decision.

Olivier, Solyo

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The test-optional era is narrowing, not expanding

The pandemic-era shift away from required testing is reversing at the most selective schools. Columbia's June 2026 announcement made it the last Ivy to reinstate. The direction of travel is one way, and it is worth planning around.

This does not mean scores have become the whole application. Brown describes testing as one factor read alongside the full application. Cornell says scores are considered "in context with other application materials, such as GPA, academic rigor, extracurricular engagement, essays, and letters of recommendation." Dartmouth is explicit that contextualized testing "will be one factor, but never the primary factor."

Should you submit scores when testing is optional?

Submit when the score strengthens the academic story the rest of the application already tells. Consider withholding when it distracts from stronger evidence in the transcript, recommendations, and achievements. Test optional does not mean test blind: Columbia and Princeton will not require scores, but they will read them if sent.

The practical reference point is the school's published middle 50 percent range for admitted students, remembering that a range is not a cutoff.

1. Check the policy for your exact entry term. A school that is test optional for fall 2027 entry may require scores for fall 2028.
2. Separate "required" from "recommended." Do not rely on language from an older blog post or a tour from two years ago.
3. Look at context, not just the composite. A math-heavy applicant with a strong math section reads differently from a humanities applicant with the same total.
4. Do not hide a strong score. At an Ivy a competitive score rarely guarantees admission, but it removes doubt about academic readiness.
5. Use the additional information section carefully. If testing access, illness, or family circumstances interfered, explain briefly and factually.

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Scores matter, but the transcript still carries more weight

The broader Ivy League criteria still center on academic strength, intellectual fit, personal qualities, and likely contribution to campus. For most applicants the transcript carries the heaviest academic signal, and a high score does not compensate for weak course performance.

Strong applications connect several kinds of evidence:

• Course rigor. The strongest curriculum realistically available at your child's school.
• Grades over time. Consistency matters, and a clear upward trend can help when the context is explained.
• Teacher recommendations. Specific classroom evidence beats broad praise.
• Essays. Judgment, curiosity, and maturity, without sounding manufactured.
• Activities. Depth and genuine initiative over a long list.
• Testing. Validation of academic preparation, read against the school profile.

If your family is still assembling that list, our guide on how to build a college list walks through balancing reach, target, and likely schools before testing decisions get locked in.

The required-testing Ivies still read scores in context

If a target school requires scores, the goal is evidence of readiness, not perfection. Penn notes that tests "represent only one component in our dynamic admissions process" alongside academic and non-academic factors. Dartmouth practices holistic admissions and treats testing as one contextualized factor among many.

This matters for students from under-resourced schools, rural districts, or families without access to private test prep. A score is not read in a vacuum. It is evaluated against the curriculum available, the school profile, and the rest of the file.

That said, context is not the same as irrelevance. If a first score lands below a realistic target range, build time for one retake, focus review on the weakest section, and remember that several Ivies superscore. If your child is still choosing between exams, our SAT vs ACT comparison covers which test suits which student.

International and transfer applicants must read the fine print

"Testing" means different things at different Ivies, and the exceptions are where families get caught.

• Dartmouth allows applicants at schools outside the US to satisfy the requirement through the SAT or ACT, three AP exams, IB results, British A-Levels, or an equivalent national exam.
• Harvard lists AP, IB, GCSE/A-Level, or national leaving exam results as acceptable in exceptional cases when the SAT and ACT are not accessible.
• Yale requires the ACT or SAT and does not accept AP or IB in their place.
• Penn applies its requirement, and its hardship waiver, to first-year, transfer, domestic, international, homeschooled, and QuestBridge applicants alike.
• Columbia will offer a waiver request once its requirement begins for fall 2028 entry.

Before applying, confirm three separate things for every school: whether scores are required for your child's applicant type, whether English proficiency testing is a separate requirement, and whether self-reported scores are accepted at the application stage.

A practical Ivy testing plan for this cycle

1. Take one diagnostic early. Pick the test that fits your child's strengths and timeline.
2. Schedule an official sitting before early deadlines. Each school publishes its own final acceptable test dates.
3. Leave room for one retake. Most students improve after seeing a real score report.
4. Track each policy in writing. Save the official admissions link and note which cycle it applies to.
5. Decide submission school by school. The same score can be optional at Princeton and mandatory at Yale.

Solyo keeps per-school admissions data, published score ranges, and deadlines together in one place, so you can see which schools on your child's list require testing without opening eight browser tabs. You can browse college profiles by state to check the schools you are considering.