The Standardized Testing Question: Navigating 2025-2026 Policies

The landscape of standardized testing remains one of the most fluid and complex aspects of the college admissions process. After a period of widespread test-optional policies, the 2025-2026 cycle is marked by a significant trend reversal among highly selective institutions, requiring students to adopt a more nuanced and strategic approach to the SAT and ACT.

The Policy Spectrum Explained

For the Fall 2026 admissions cycle, institutional testing policies generally fall into one of four categories:

• Test-Required: These institutions mandate the submission of either SAT or ACT scores as a required component of the application. A growing number of top-tier universities, including MIT, Georgetown, Brown, Dartmouth, Yale, Caltech, and the public university systems of Florida and Georgia, have returned to this policy.
• Test-Optional: This remains the most common policy, with nearly 80% of U.S. colleges allowing applicants to choose whether to submit test scores. When a student applies test-optional, admissions committees place greater weight on other academic indicators, such as GPA, the rigor of high school coursework, application essays, and letters of recommendation.
• Test-Blind (or Test-Free): These institutions will not consider SAT or ACT scores in the admissions process, even if a student submits them. The most prominent examples are the entire University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems.
• Test-Flexible: This is an emerging policy where colleges allow students to submit scores from other standardized exams, such as Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) tests, in lieu of the SAT or ACT. Yale University has adopted this model for the 2025-2026 cycle.

The narrative of recent years suggested a permanent move away from standardized testing. However, the actions of "bellwether" institutions indicate a clear directional shift. For the 2025-2026 cycle, a critical mass of highly influential universities has reinstated testing requirements. Other institutions are signaling future changes; for example, the University of Miami will remain test-optional for Fall 2025 applicants but will require test scores for those applying for Fall 2026 admission. Meanwhile, the UNC System has implemented a hybrid policy, requiring scores only for applicants with a weighted high school GPA below 2.8. This fragmented landscape makes it imperative for students to verify the specific policy of every college on their list.

Strategic Guidance: To Submit or Not to Submit?

For students applying to test-optional colleges, the decision of whether to submit scores is a critical strategic choice. The guiding principle is straightforward:

• The Golden Rule: Students should submit their scores if they fall at or above the mid-50% range of scores for that college's previously admitted class. This data is typically published on a college's admissions website. If a student's scores fall significantly below this range, they should withhold them.

It is crucial to understand that applying test-optional is not an "easier" path. It simply shifts the evaluative weight onto the other components of the application. A student choosing to withhold scores must present an otherwise exceptional academic record, demonstrated through a challenging curriculum of AP, IB, or honors courses, a high GPA, compelling essays, glowing recommendations, and a record of impactful extracurricular involvement. Some institutions, like the University of Chicago, offer a "No Harm" policy, where they will only factor in a submitted test score if it benefits the applicant, providing a safety net for students on the cusp of the school's score range.

The reintroduction of testing requirements at a small but highly influential group of elite universities has created a ripple effect across the entire admissions landscape. Any student with aspirations for these top-tier, test-required institutions must take the SAT or ACT. Once these students have a score, they will almost certainly submit it to any test-optional schools on their list where the score is competitive. This creates a self-selected pool of high-scoring applicants at these test-optional colleges. Consequently, a student applying to a selective test-optional college without a score is now implicitly competing against a cohort that has demonstrated proficiency on an additional academic metric. The "option" to not submit a score can thus become a strategic disadvantage. For high-achieving students competing for spots at the nation's most selective colleges, the test-optional landscape is, in effect, a mirage; testing has become a de facto necessity to remain competitive across their entire college list.

The table below provides a summary of the testing policies for a selection of popular universities for the 2025-2026 application cycle (Fall 2026 enrollment). Note: These policies are subject to change, and applicants must verify the requirements on each institution's official admissions website.