There is A LOT of confusion out there about how much emphasis high schoolers should place on preparing for and taking the SAT or ACT, and unfortunately, this confusion creates much needless anxiety. Even the colleges themselves are not very clear about how much they value SAT and ACT scores anymore. Because we guide so many students through the SAT/ACT prep process and because we have close relationships with some great college admissions consultants, we have a very good perch from which to offer some much needed guidance!
The basic truth is that, in most cases, SAT and ACT scores are still important! There are exceptions to this as will be explained, but especially for students targeting highly selective schools, the SAT and ACT continue to be very important. Below we elaborate on the reasons for this, many of which are not well-understood by parents. Indeed, some of what follows is not understood by test-prep and college admissions professionals themselves.
While Some Schools Are Test Optional, Others Require Scores!
Test-optional admissions is a constantly changing landscape, so some of what follows is bound to change. At the time of this writing, most schools are indeed test optional, and there are even some, like all of the schools in the University of California system, that are even “test-blind” (meaning they will not consider SAT or ACT scores even when submitted).
But there are some schools that, post-Covid, switched back to requiring scores. For example, MIT, Purdue, and all of the schools in the Georgia and Florida state systems, including University of Florida and Florida State, require SAT or ACT scores. Additionally, many UK schools require SAT or ACT scores from international applicants. And we regularly get inquiries from parents of students who need additional help on the SAT or ACT because they have decided to apply to a school that requires scores and realized, often at the 11th hour, that they need to boost their scores! So even if you plan to apply almost entirely to schools that are test optional, you may need an SAT or ACT score for some of the colleges on your wishlist.
It’s always good to check with the schools directly, but the website Fairtest.org keeps a list of schools that are test optional.
Even Among Test Optional Schools, SAT and ACT Scores Continue to Be Important
The above fact is especially true among the highly selective schools, although SAT and ACT scores continue to be important at less selective colleges as well, for reasons that we expand up below. And to be clear, this information has been communicated to us through a variety of sources.
First, there is data suggesting that among highly selective schools, a significantly higher percentage of students who submit scores are admitted compared to those who don’t submit. The difference seems to be a roughly 2x factor among highly selective and even moderately selective schools: in other words, a school that admits 10% of students who don’t submit SAT or ACT scores will admit roughly 20% of students who do submit scores.
We’ve also heard anecdotal evidence from college consultants that admissions staff plainly admit that students who submit scores have an edge. In fact, we recently learned that the Director of Admissions of a well-known top 25 school recently announced to a group of college counselors that any student who does NOT submit an SAT or ACT score at his institution is presumed to have an SAT score around 1100 or 1200, and this is at a college whose average SAT score is around 1500! Ouch!
The above should not be surprising. If an admissions officer is considering two otherwise similar applicants, one who submitted a high SAT or ACT score and one who did not, it’s understandable that the one who submitted the score would be admitted. There is so much grade inflation, especially at top high schools, that admissions officers view a high SAT or ACT score as confirmation that an applicant really has the academic qualifications that the college is looking for. Again, this is generally the message that is trickling down from admissions officers themselves.
As evidence of this, consider the following message from a former administrator at Cornell:
For my colleagues among the highly selectives, we are mostly in agreement that a student with a score 100-150 points below our average shouldn’t be afraid to share that result – especially if they have strong grades and a significant hook in their application. If 13 students from the same high school applied to Cornell, and 12 of the 13 submitted scores, I would assume that the single omitter had a significantly below average result; they probably aren’t academically prepared for college here.
And consider the message coming directly from the Dean of Admissions at MIT. When MIT announced, in March of 2022, that it would begin requiring the SAT or ACT for undergraduate admission again, the dean of admissions wrote a long justification that is very interesting to read. The most important point he makes is that MIT just felt like it needed SAT and ACT scores in order to properly evaluate applicants. The other less obvious but perhaps more interesting justification was that MIT began to view its test optional policy as unfair and misleading to students: if MIT admissions officers really felt like they needed SAT or ACT scores from applicants and if they were likely to preference applicants who submitted scores, then it would be misleading to claim they are test optional since students who don’t submit scores might not realize that they are at a disadvantage. Fascinating, really!
SAT and ACT Scores Are Important for Merit Aid and College Placement
The fact that SAT and ACT scores are a major factor in the decision to grant merit aid is not well-appreciated and, candidly, is something that we at Reason Test Prep did not really consider until it was pointed out to us by some of the excellent college admissions experts we know.
Many schools try to attract talent by awarding merit aid to promising students, and often this aid is tied to SAT or ACT scores. Let’s consider an example to make it clear why this matters, even for students who believe they are “not good test takers.” Let’s say that the top colleges on your wishlist have average ACT scores of 30, and let’s imagine that you peaked at 28 on the test. While you may or may not submit that score to those top schools (although given the above comments from administrators at some highly selective colleges, it might be wise to submit a slightly below average score anyway), you might have other schools on your list whose average ACT score among admitted applicants is 25 or 26, and submitting your 28 might help you get an offer of merit aid! We have seen this a lot with students and there is even evidence that the trend of awarding merit aid has been increasing among colleges!
An even less-appreciated fact is that some colleges use SAT or ACT scores for placement purposes among the freshman class. Not having a score might mean that you get placed in a class that you could have placed out of or that upon entering college you are required to take a placement test that includes topics that you have not seen in a very long time. An SAT or ACT score might allow you to avoid all of that.
Conclusions: How to Think About the SAT and ACT in the Test Optional Landscape
Clearly, the SAT and ACT continue to be important in the college admission process. So how should parents and students think about the tests, how much to prepare, whether to submit scores, etc?
Our mantra here at Reason Test Prep is that students and parents alike should think of the SAT/ACT as an opportunity. These are good times to live in: no longer do students need to be stressed that failing to get a good SAT or ACT score will completely ruin their admission chances the way it may have for their parents. So they should view preparing for and taking the SAT or ACT as an opportunity and should approach the process without the stress and pressure that may have been more warranted in the past. If after their best effort at the SAT or ACT their scores are well below the average at some of the schools they apply to, they can choose not to submit those scores, and they still stand a good chance of admission. Again, these are good times to live in because the above was not true in the past!
High schoolers should still put their best foot forward and prepare with as much effort as they can muster since a good SAT or ACT will really help their chance of admission at most colleges. Remember, students applying to the most competitive schools tend to take the SAT and ACT very seriously and do a lot of prep, raising the bar for everyone else. If you want to apply to a highly selective school, it is wise to give yourself the best chance of success by really preparing for the tests and giving yourself at least a couple of tries on the exams.
But again, you can view the whole process as an “opportunity” and relieve yourself of the pressure of generations past. We occasionally see students who just have too much on their plate and for whom SAT or ACT prep becomes too onerous or stressful. In cases such as these, it is sometimes wise to pause or even discontinue prep. The fact that that is even an option is one of the benefits of the test optional landscape that we now inhabit!
There is one last consideration to think about when preparing for the SAT or ACT. Most parents and students think solely about college admission when thinking about the tests. That is of course understandable, but preparing for the SAT or ACT is not just about getting great scores on the tests. There is a reason that these exams are useful to schools: the skills that they test ARE important for success in college. Of course, our primary objective is to help students reach their highest potential on the SAT or ACT, but in driving towards that goal we also help students become better problem solvers, better critical thinkers, better readers, etc. Good SAT or ACT prep teaches skills that are beneficial in college and life beyond, and developing these abilities is a worthy goal in its own right. One of our greatest rewards here at Reason Test Prep is hearing from students who tell us that they learned life lessons that they carry with them beyond the SAT or ACT.