5/1/2026
Is the SAT or ACT Still Worth Taking Now That Most Schools Are Test-Optional?
Test-optional admissions was supposed to level the playing field. Starting around 2020, hundreds of colleges dropped their standardized testing requirements, first as a pandemic accommodation and then as a permanent or extended policy. By 2023, more than 1,800 colleges and universities had gone test-optional, including most of the schools students most want to attend. The narrative that followed was predictable: the SAT and ACT no longer matter, testing is on its way out, and students who skip it are...
Kate Carter