Check every school on your list for its testing requirement

Testing requirements changed for this cycle

Do not assume test-optional

The test-optional era is narrowing, and the changes land on the Class of 2027:

• Columbia reinstated the SAT/ACT requirement for first-year applicants beginning fall 2027 — the last Ivy to do so
• Princeton requires scores for the fall 2027 intake
• MIT, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Caltech, Stanford, Georgetown already require or effectively require them
• The entire Florida and Georgia public systems require scores; UT Austin reinstated in 2024
• LSU requires the ACT or SAT again; Auburn requires scores for all fall 2027 applicants regardless of GPA
• Alabama requires a score from any applicant with a cumulative GPA below 3.0
• The UNC system approved the CLT as an accepted alternative alongside the SAT and ACT for fall 2027

The University of California and Cal State systems remain test-blind — scores are not considered at all, and sending them changes nothing.

Build the list this week

For each school, write down one of three answers:

1. Required — you must send scores
2. Optional — you choose
3. Blind — scores are ignored entirely

Check the school's own admissions page, not a third-party list. Policies changed as recently as this year and aggregators lag.

If a school is test-optional, should you submit?

Submit if your score is at or above the school's published middle 50 percent range — the 25th to 75th percentile of admitted students, in its Common Data Set.

Below that range, withhold. A score under the 25th percentile at a test-optional school does more harm than the absence of one.

There are two qualifications. Some merit scholarships require a score even where admission does not, so check the scholarship rules separately. And some honors colleges use scores for placement even at test-optional schools.

If you still need a score

The remaining useful dates are the November 7 SAT for deadlines of November 15 or later, and the December 5 SAT or December 12 ACT for Regular Decision. Register before the deadline; test centres fill.