Throughout the past couple years, many prestigious schools, including some Ivy Leagues, are starting to drop tests like the SATs and ACTs as an application requirement, making the tests optional.

According to the University of Pittsburgh, one of the many reasons that a lot of schools are going to test optional is because of things like Covid-19 and how it impacted colleges in a major way. Since a lot of students weren’t able to go to testing sites or get tutoring for the SAT’s, it impacted the admissions department. Since then, colleges have been dropping the requirement for these tests and allowing them to be test-optional.

Test optional means that these schools won’t require the submission of SAT or ACT scores in order to be accepted into their school. This does differ from test-blind schools. Test-blind schools ignore all testing admissions no matter how you scored on them, good or bad. Most recently, in early March of 2023, Columbia University made news as becoming the first Ivy League school to be test optional. Although others, such as Harvard and Yale, are currently test optional, it is only due to the pandemic and has an expiration date.

Test optional also helps level the field for a lot of students who may not be able to afford to re-take or take the SATs or get tutoring for the test, says the University of Pittsburgh. It allows for students to be able to prove themselves without having to take a test in order to prove their intelligence, but prove it through their actions and hard work they have put in throughout their academic career.

In the past, these tests have always been a requirement for many colleges. Scores from student’s SAT and/or ACT tests were used in order to measure their levels in certain subjects and categories, to see if they were an appropriate fit to be accepted into that particular school. For example, according to IPEDS, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, the average test score that Harvard students needed to have was 730 – 780 for reading and writing, and 750 – 800 for math. Other Ivy League colleges, like Yale and Stanford, required around the same scoring.

Although many schools are test-optional, some schools do recommend that applicants submit their SAT and ACT scores, since this could help them with getting accepted faster. Not submitting your SAT and ACT though doesn’t mean a student won’t get into the school; there are many ways now applicants can show colleges what they have to offer, like keeping good grades and having a solid academic record.

It’s always recommended that students try to take the SAT and ACT if possible, because if you do score high then they may assist students get into the college they are aiming for. However, if one does get a low score, then there’s no need to worry about it because chances are, the college of choice may not require it anymore.

Here is a complete list of test optional schools (as of August 2022).