More Colleges Are Requiring Standardized Tests – What This Means for Students Applying to Test-optional Schools

 
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The University of Pennsylvania recently announced that it will require the SAT or ACT for students applying during the 2025-26 application cycle, expanding the number of highly selective colleges and universities requiring standardized tests as a part of the college admission process.

Here’s a list of top colleges and universities that require applicants to submit standardized tests when they apply to college:

List of Colleges that Require the SAT/ACT

  • Brown University

  • California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

  • Cornell University

  • Dartmouth College

  • Georgetown University

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)

  • Harvard University

  • Johns Hopkins University

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

  • Purdue University

  • Stanford University

  • University of Florida

  • University of Georgia

  • University of Miami

  • University of Pennsylvania

  • University of Texas – Austin

  • U.S. Air Force Academy

  • U.S. Coast Guard Academy

  • U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

  • U.S. Military Army Academy at West Point

  • U.S. Naval Academy

  • Yale University (test flexible)

What types of colleges and universities require standardized test scores?

  • Six Ivy League universities now require standardized test scores – Columbia University is test-optional permanently, and Princeton University extended its test-optional policy for students applying in the fall of 2025.

  • Several top technology-focused universities require standardized test scores, including Caltech, Georgia Tech, and MIT.

  • Public universities in Florida and Georgia require the SAT or ACT as a part of the college application. Several other public universities require standardized test scores as well, including Purdue University and the University of Texas–Austin.

  • All five military academies in the United States require the SAT or ACT for admissions.

Colleges and universities essentially offer two reasons for reinstating standardized test requirements:

  • Standardized tests, along with high school coursework and grades, help predict a student’s ability to succeed at these institutions. In effect, colleges are saying that courses and grades alone are not enough to make this determination.

  • Standardized tests help college admission offices identify students from under-resourced schools who have the potential to succeed at these institutions, even though test scores for these students might be below average for those institutions.

What does the expanding list of colleges requiring standardized test scores mean for students applying to test-optional schools?

Students planning to apply to test-optional colleges should consider taking the SAT or ACT, and students who do not submit a test score might be at a competitive disadvantage.

While many top colleges and universities are still test-optional, students applying to colleges that require the SAT or ACT are also applying to test-optional schools. Students who submit strong standardized test scores will have an edge over their competition because college admission officers will have additional information to distinguish these students from other applicants who have taken similar classes in high school and achieved a similar GPA

Furthermore, a majority of students enrolled at top colleges and universities that are test-optional submitted either an SAT or ACT score, indicating a strong correlation between submitting standardized test scores and getting into top colleges.

The percentage of enrolled students at top colleges and universities who submitted either an SAT or ACT score (according to the most recent Common Data Set):

 

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