Can I Still Apply Test-Optional to Colleges in 2025-26?
October 12, 2025
Prior to the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, rarely did a single month pass without another well-known college or university making headlines by announcing that it would no longer require applicants to submit standardized test scores. This movement, known as going 鈥渢est-optional,鈥� actually began almost 50 years ago at Bowdoin College and had been gaining momentum since the late 2000s. Then, as soon as coronavirus reached American shores, hundreds of the top institutions in the country, including the Ivy League universities and elite liberal arts schools, adopted temporary test-optional policies.
Fast forward to 2025: Although test-optional policies still dominate the higher education admissions landscape, more and more colleges are choosing to reinstate their standardized testing requirements. Where can you still apply test-optional? How do you decide whether to submit test scores? And do colleges really give equal treatment to test-optional applicants? We’ll dive into all those questions in today’s blog.
Key Takeaways
- Test-optional remains common, but the tide is turning.
Most colleges still offer test-optional admissions in 2025, but major universities like Harvard, MIT, and Brown have reinstated testing requirements. - Colleges want consistency in evaluation.
Schools say test scores offer a fairer way to compare students across different high schools and predict college success.
- Be strategic about submitting scores.
Submit if your score is within or above a school鈥檚 mid-50% range, or if you鈥檙e an international, homeschooled, or non-traditional student. Otherwise, rely on strong academics, essays, and extracurriculars. - Test-optional applicants receive a fair review, but context matters.
While some schools tend to admit more students with scores, others admit more without them.
Can I still apply test-optional in 2025?
Usually, yes鈥攖he vast majority of schools remain test-optional. However, a sizable number of colleges have decided to overturn their policies. So, rather than publish a comprehensive list of test-optional colleges (you’d be scrolling for a while), we’ve decided to put together a list of notable colleges that now require SAT/ACT results from all applicants:
Colleges that Require the SAT or ACT in 2025-26
- (School of Computer Science is test-required; most others are test-flexible)
- Florida public universities (including the and )
- Military service academies (Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, West Point, Coast Guard Academy, and Merchant Marine Academy)
- (Columbus campus)
- (test-flexible)
Colleges that Expect or Prefer the SAT/ACT in 2025-26
- (strongly test-preferred)
- (test-encouraged)
- (test-expected)
- (test-recommended)
- (test-encouraged for 1300+ SAT or 28+ ACT)
Why are colleges reinstating testing requirements?
Colleges are primarily concerned with admitting students who are capable of doing the work and graduating on time. This is why the most important part of your college application is always your academic track record鈥攚hich classes you’ve taken, how well you’ve done in them, and the extent to which you’ve challenged yourself. However, since grading practices, course offerings, school policies, and GPA scales vary wildly from high school to high school, transcripts can be difficult to compare.
Standardized testing, though, functions as a highly reliable “yardstick” with which to compare applicants’ academic achievement, and even suggests that test scores can be a better predictor of collegiate success than GPA. Such research, combined with colleges’ own internal investigations, is the primary reason why more and more colleges are choosing to reinstate their standardized testing requirements.
A few examples:
: “After careful consideration, we have decided to聽 for future admissions cycles. Our research shows standardized tests help us better assess the academic preparedness of all applicants, and also help us identify socioeconomically disadvantaged students who lack access to advanced coursework or other enrichment opportunities that would otherwise demonstrate their readiness for MIT.”
: “Based on an extensive review of data over the past three years, Brown University has returned to a policy requiring standardized test scores (either SAT or ACT scores) for first-year applicants beginning with the 2024-25 admission cycle…There are no minimum scores required to be considered for admission, but as we seek to set students up for success, the availability of test scores 鈥� evaluated in context 鈥� is one more resource we can use to support academic preparation and to create a diverse and dynamic class.”
: “Caltech has reinstated its requirement for prospective students to submit SAT or ACT test scores as part of their application for admission to undergraduate study…This decision, which follows a recommendation from a faculty Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions Policy, reflects the judgment that standardized testing provides admissions officers and faculty reviewers useful information about academic preparedness as part of a holistic consideration of all prospective students.”
Will more colleges reinstate their standardized test policies in the future?
驰别蝉鈥�, , and are already planning to reinstate testing for future cycles, and many other colleges that implemented pandemic-era test-optional policies are still openly assessing their impact. Unless a college has formally and publicly adopted a test-optional policy, such as the , , and the , or went test-optional long before it was cool, such as the , , , and , know that their test policy could change at any time for future applicants. In particular, you’ll want to keep an eye out for language like this:
: “If you’re applying for admission for Fall 2026, you’ll have the choice of sharing or not sharing results from the SAT and ACT. Whichever path you choose, we’ll consider your application with care and respect, and you won’t be disadvantaged because of the choice you’ve made.”
: “Duke University is test-optional for both first-year and transfer applicants in the 2025-26 admissions cycle. Students who apply without SAT or ACT scores this year will not be at a disadvantage in our consideration of their applications.”
: “I am pleased to announce that聽Boston University has decided to remain test optional for students applying for admission through fall 2028 and spring 2029. Our test optional policy applies to all undergraduate schools and colleges at BU, as well as all scholarship programs.”
: “The University of Alabama will not require standardized ACT or SAT scores from students applying through the Fall 2026 Semester.”
Interestingly, the Trump administration’s recently proposed included a requirement that participating colleges would “have all undergraduate applicants take a widely-used standardized test (i.e. SAT, ACT, or CLT) or program-specific measures of accomplishment in the case of music, art, and other specialized programs of study.” It remains to be seen whether any future federal attempts to influence college admissions in exchange for funding will include similar mandates.
How do I decide whether to聽apply test-optional?
Going test-optional is not an all-or-nothing decision. You are permitted to submit your SAT or ACT results to some schools and not to others. Here are three questions to help you decide:
1) Where do your scores fall in relation to the college’s mid-50th percentile?
The vast majority of colleges publish the mid-50th percentile test scores of enrolled and admitted students, either within the Common Data Set or on their websites. If your test score is within or above this range, you should send your exam results. If it falls below this range, you will almost always want to apply test-optional.
For example, the mid-50% SAT range at Princeton University is while the mid-50% range at Drexel University is . If you scored a 1400, you would want to apply test-optional to Princeton but submit your scores to Drexel.
2) How strong is your overall application?
If you apply without test scores, your other application materials will be even more heavily scrutinized now that your admissions officers are without an essential piece of information, which, although biased, can still provide for meaningful comparisons between you and the rest of the applicant pool. Ask yourself鈥攚hat other components of my application stand out? Do my grades, essays, and/or extracurricular record truly distinguish me as an applicant?
As a numerical benchmark, first see if your GPA and class rank fall solidly within or above the average such number for the most recent incoming class. Let’s use our Princeton example again鈥攊n 2024-25, the average enrolled freshman had an unweighted GPA of 3.95, and 69% had a perfect 4.0. If you’re the class salutatorian with a 4.0 GPA in a rigorous course schedule, you’ll likely receive a serious review even if you apply without test scores. A student with no test scores and a 3.75 GPA, though, would face much steeper odds.
Finally, keep in mind that some colleges only allow you to apply test-optional if you have a high enough GPA. For example, you can only apply test-optional to , including NC State and the UNC system, if you have a GPA of 2.8 or above. Any students with a GPA of 2.8 or below must submit test scores alongside their application.
3) Are you an international student or a non-traditional applicant?
International students and non-traditional applicants, including homeschooled students, should plan to submit test scores. You likely won’t have a choice鈥攕tudents who hail from these demographic groups are typically required to submit scores, even at test-optional colleges. If you do have a choice, though, it’s still a good idea to submit.
As mentioned, a test-score-free application is going to be transcript-reliant, which is fine for students hailing from most public and private high schools across the United States. Colleges have a general understanding of the curriculum, level of rigor, and grading standards at most U.S. secondary schools. However, as we told , international, non-traditional, and homeschooled students do not share this luxury, so submitting your scores, even if slightly lower than average, usually benefits you.
If I do apply test-optional, will my application get treated equally?
Generally, yes, but it’s complicated. Test-optional applicants are absolutely given a fair shot, but as we have stressed, the other parts of the academic and extracurricular record have to be stellar, especially at highly selective institutions. The other major consideration? The percentage of test-optional students that a college actually enrolls.
If a college has a test-optional policy in place, the percentage of incoming students who enrolled with and without test scores can give you important insight into the “testing culture” at that school. High percentages of test-takers鈥攐ver 50-60%鈥攖ypically indicate at least one of the following:
1) The college places more emphasis than advertised on standardized test scores. Sometimes, this information can be gleaned from the Common Data Set. At Princeton, for example, standardized test scores are designated as a “very important” factor, even though the school states that students who apply without test scores “will not be at a disadvantage.”
2) Most students choose to apply with test scores, even if they’re not required. As such, test-optional applicants may be in the minority within the applicant pool, which could place them at a slight disadvantage. For example, 77% of Princeton’s most recent incoming class submitted test scores alongside their applications. This number was similar at Duke (77%), Columbia (61%), and UVA (60%). At such schools, a student who possesses test scores in the median or high range for the school simply possesses a stronger academic profile and may win out over a test-optional peer, provided that both are similar in terms of achievement and accomplishments.
On the other hand, some colleges’ freshman classes are comprised mostly of test-optional applicants. Sixty-nine percent of incoming freshmen at Northeastern enrolled without SAT or ACT results. Similarly, 66% enrolled without test scores at Santa Clara, and 57% did so at BU. If you’re applying test-optional, colleges like these may offer a friendlier admissions atmosphere.
Do “test-optional” and “test-blind” mean the same thing?
No. Test-blind institutions do not consider test scores in any circumstance, even if you submit them.
The University of California system as well as the California State University system are now officially test-blind.聽While rare, there are other institutions that have joined the UCs and CSUs, at least temporarily, in this test-blind approach. For the full list, visit our Dataverse page.
Final Thoughts
Test-optional policies allow institutions to accept sub-par standardized test takers who are otherwise strong applicants without hurting their institutional statistics. Since 2020, these policies have greatly expanded. Further, many colleges did indeed take great numbers of test-optional applicants in the 2023-2024 and 2024-25 cycles.
It’s always in your best interest to put as much effort as possible into doing well on the SAT or ACT. However, if you are an individual who, for one reason or another, cannot achieve SAT/ACT scores that are commensurate with your ability as a student, then exploring the test-optional route makes good sense. Just know that you’ll need to bring other stellar credentials inside and/or outside the classroom to really maximize the admissions-related gains.
Need more standardized testing resources? You might consider checking out the following:
