BestColleges

MARCH 1, 2024

Yale University announced it is reinstating standardized test requirements. The university believes mandatory test requirements can help level the playing field for disadvantaged students. Yale has officially become "test-flexible." Applicants will thus have four options for submitting standardized test results.

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BestColleges

MARCH 20, 2024

It's also important to remember that your standardized test score is just one factor that schools will consider in your overall application. However, a recent study conducted by Harvard University-based research group Opportunity Insights has administrators rethinking their test-optional policies.

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Ivy Coach

MARCH 23, 2023

The Ultimate List of Test-Optional Colleges The Covid-19 pandemic ushered in a new era in elite college admissions: test-optional admissions policies. With test cancelations and administrative closures due to … Read More Ivy Coach

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Shemmassian Academic Consulting

JULY 9, 2023

This became especially true in 2020, given changes in test administration and colleges’ testing policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years later, colleges continue to update their testing requirements, with some extending their test-optional periods and others opting for permanent changes.

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BestColleges

MARCH 12, 2024

The University of Pennsylvania will extend its test-optional policy for another year. Penn's announcement follows news that Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown will reinstate standardized test requirements beginning next fall. Test-optional colleges could realize a competitive admissions advantage over rivals that require scores.

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Top Tier Admissions

JUNE 14, 2024

None of the UCs offer early admission or consider standardized test scores. UT Austin announced in March that after four years of test-optional admissions for undergraduate admissions it will once again require standardized test scores , beginning with applications for the Fall 2025 semester.

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Admitted

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Financial aid discussions have centered on simplifying FAFSA and increasing federal Pell Grants – all important – but federal student aid policies are only one funding source for families trying to determine how to pay for college. The topic of institutional financial aid policy often takes a backseat to the federal aid policy conversation.

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Top Tier Admissions

APRIL 4, 2023

The uptick comes in advance of the Supreme Court’s decision on a lawsuit against Harvard brought by Students for Fair Admissions , an anti-affirmative action group that claims the College’s race-conscious admissions policies discriminate against Asian American applicants.

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Top Tier Admissions

APRIL 19, 2024

BROWN’S CHANGING ADMISSIONS POLICIES Brown University announced in early March that it would once again require students applying for fall 2025 admission to submit either a SAT or ACT score. Brown followed the lead of Dartmouth College and Yale University who will also require standardized test scores , effective for the Class of 2029.

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BestColleges

JUNE 11, 2024

The university paused its testing requirement in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several universities — including Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown — have recently reinstituted standardized test requirements. The test-optional policy will remain for students applying for fall 2024 admission.

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Elite Open School

APRIL 1, 2020

The University of California announced today that it has “temporarily relaxed some undergraduate admissions policies” for the fall 2021 freshman class so that “students are not penalized by their inability to earn letter grades for academic classes or take standardized tests during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Should I still take it?

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Solomon Admissions

JUNE 29, 2023

In addition to the usual application materials, like transcripts, letters of recommendation, and essays, students are often asked to submit standardized test scores from either the SAT or ACT exam when applying to college. Top schools do not recommend one test over the other; students are allowed to submit whichever one they prefer.

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Top Tier Admissions

APRIL 20, 2023

More applications to top schools (driven by test-optional policies) and a clear commitment to a diverse incoming class. BEYOND THE ACCEPTANCE RATE: TO SUBMIT OR NOT TO SUBMIT One of the most vexing questions for many seniors has revolved around the nearly ubiquitous test-optional shift. The major trends?

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BestColleges

MARCH 13, 2024

The university went test-optional in 2020 because of the pandemic. Test scores will help the university sort applicants according to major preferences. Like hundreds of other colleges, UT Austin went test-optional in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This rationale differs somewhat from what the Ivies argued.

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The Koppelman Group

MARCH 1, 2024

In the last few weeks, both Dartmouth and Yale have decided to end the test-optional policies they adopted during the height of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. Since adopting test-optional, a lot of schools started extending their policies out by years or even indefinitely (like Michigan). And schools love this.

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The Ivy Dean

FEBRUARY 16, 2021

Colleges have already made significant changes to their admissions processes, basing their decisions on new criteria, removing the requirement for standardized tests, and transitioning annual recruitment activities to be virtual. Standardized testing may eventually become a thing of the past.

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DC College Counseling

JANUARY 12, 2024

Some schools have instituted new policies to address this issue; for example, the University of California system includes a Statement of Application Integrity in which they state that the “UC conducts regular screenings to verify the integrity of the responses” and “may request authentication of the content or writing as the student’s.”

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BestColleges

MARCH 6, 2023

Testing policies remain the same for students who wish to submit scores. William & Mary found similarities in retention and GPA from students who submit tests and those who don't. The respective institutions announced last week that each will move forward with test-optional undergraduate admissions policies.

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SSA Online College Prep

APRIL 26, 2022

Stu Schmill (the head of admissions at MIT) discusses the importance of lifting the test-optional policy ! MIT Lifts the Test-Optional Policy for Standardized Tests On March 28th, 2022, MIT announced that it would again require the SAT and ACT tests as part of the college admissions process.

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Admitted

AUGUST 10, 2023

iStock NACAC, in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and several other organizations, is carefully exploring admission policies and practices in an increasingly test-optional or test-free environment. How and why did institutions decide whether to go test-optional (and, if so, in what form)?

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College Kickstart

APRIL 19, 2020

We’ve enhanced our test-optional recommendation engine to help you better handle the growing list of schools going test-blind for the 2020-21 admission cycle. Handling Test-Blind Admissions in College Kickstart. What is Test-Blind Admission? Attention College Kickstart subscribers! That’s it!

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BestColleges

FEBRUARY 16, 2023

Eligibility for the scholarship hit an all-time low of 17% for the class of 2022 following the reinstatement of standardized testing requirements, according to the report. That figure is similar to 24% for the classes of 2020 and 2021, but far below its peak acceptance of 39% in 2016.

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Admissions Village

FEBRUARY 25, 2024

Both colleges will start their new testing policy with current high school juniors, the university class of 2029. Duke also came out with an announcement this week that said they will no longer assign a numerical score to standardized test scores, SAT or ACT or students’ essays.

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the college spy

OCTOBER 1, 2021

The role of standardized tests in the college admissions process has always been difficult to understand, with most people overestimating their importance at most colleges. The following is The College Spy’s guide to what students and parents need to understand about the changing landscape of standardized testing in college admissions.

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Princeton College Consulting

APRIL 21, 2020

Nobody knows how this pandemic will evolve or when it will end, so colleges and organizations that deal with college admissions are continually updating policies and timelines. Standardized Tests. SAT and SAT Subject Tests. The College Board has now canceled the May and June SAT and SAT Subject Test administrations.

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Shemmassian Academic Consulting

JANUARY 3, 2024

If you hope to add your name to the Yale Law School alumni list, you probably already know that you’ll need stellar undergraduate grades and standardized test scores, stand-out personal essays, and that little, mysterious, crucial something extra to be a competitive applicant.

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Elite Open School

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Thursday, May 21, 2020, was a momentous day in the history of the University of California. On that day, the University of California Board of Regents (the governing and policy-making body for the entire UC system) unanimously passed UC President Janet Napolitano's proposal to eliminate the SAT and ACT as a requirement on the UC application.

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BestColleges

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

New America's 2020 report , "Crisis Point: How Enrollment Management and the Merit-Aid Arms Race Are Derailing Public Higher Education," details the rise in financial aid allocations among public universities between 2001 and 2017. Ivy League Policy Prohibits Merit Aid Not every college awards merit aid because not every college has to.

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AdmissionSight

DECEMBER 17, 2024

While the pandemic accelerated this decline starting in 2020, the reality is that college readiness has been on a downward trend for over a decade. Junior year Start studying for standardized tests (SAT/ACT). Take practice tests for the SAT/ACT. Nationwide, students averaged 19.5 points from the previous year.

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Tex Admissions

MARCH 21, 2022

Test-optional admissions should not change much how you approach your essays or resume although I can imagine letters of recommendation may be more important to provide context to your academic abilities and achievements. UT will be as competitive as ever, and UT going test-optional will not impact most applicants.

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North Star Admissions Consulting

JUNE 16, 2021

At first glance, this seemed to open the door for strong students who don’t perform well on standardized tests to gain admission to schools that typically accept applicants with scores in the 98 th or 99 th percentile. In practice, the implementation of this new test-optional policy varied widely. Keeping An Open Mind.

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AdmissionSight

JANUARY 1, 2025

2020 31,484 7.9% This bump is pretty standard for binding admissions plans since they tend to draw applicants who are both highly qualified and fully committed. UChicago Early Decision policy Both ED I and ED II are binding. Target test scores UChicago is test-optional , so you dont have to submit SAT or ACT scores.

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DC College Counseling

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK DARTMOUTH COLLEGE REINSTATES SAT/ACT REQUIREMENT On Monday morning, Dartmouth College announced that they will require applicants to submit standardized test scores in the upcoming undergraduate admissions cycle. Following the U.S.

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Great College Advice

JULY 25, 2023

Standardized Test Scores The other academic factor is your test score on the ACT or SAT. Now much has been said about the diminishing importance of standardized tests in the admissions process. Many colleges and universities were “test-optional” before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

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AdmissionSight

DECEMBER 18, 2024

2020 20,675 10.5% Test-optional policies introduced during the pandemic expanded the applicant pool, bringing in students who might not have applied otherwise. 2020 18,748 9% 2019 18,646 8.8% The Dartmouth acceptance rate for RD has steadily dropped, going from 9% for the Class of 2020 to the 3.8% 2020 1,927 25.6%

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College Essay Guy

MAY 31, 2023

Stanford Application Deadlines Stanford Restrictive Early Action Policy Policy Stanford Supplemental Essay Prompts How to get into Stanford—Essay Tips How hard is it to get into Stanford? Stanford has had far more applicants each year since at least the 2020-2021 application season.

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The Koppelman Group

JULY 23, 2023

The college has continued the test-optional policy that they implemented in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and they also say that they take Spring 2020 grades and extracurriculars with a grain of salt. If you are considering submitting test scores, it’s helpful to know what numbers will stand out in a positive way.

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