SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

If you want to get accepted into your dream school, you need to earn great test scores. But many colleges have recently made submitting SAT and ACT scores an optional piece of their application process. Yep, you read that right—at some schools, SAT and ACT scores are not required. 

So what does this mean for you? Should you still take the SAT or ACT if your top choice schools have gone test optional? We’ll explain how to handle the SAT/ACT when you’re applying to the best test optional schools in the US, including: 

• What test optional means (and why so many top schools have gone test optional)
• A list of all of the top 100 nationally ranked schools that are currently test optional
• Four key factors you need to consider before deciding how to handle the SAT/ACT for your college admissions

That’s a lot to cover…so let’s get to it!

Just like fashion, there are trends in higher education as well.  (Trust us. Trends in test-optional schools are way better than...whatever this is.) (Hanchen/Wikimedia)

Current Trend: Many Top Colleges Are Going Test-Optional 

At present, 96 of the top 100 US colleges and universities (per US News & World Report’s rankings list) are test optional. 

“Test optional” means exactly what it sounds like: submission of SAT and/or ACT scores is completely optional in the admissions process. More specifically, you won’t be penalized if you choose not to submit test scores, and you won’t gain an advantage over other applicants by submitting your scores. 

But 96 out of the 100 best schools in the entire country is a significant number, especially when you take into account that, just a few years ago, a small fraction of those schools had test optional admissions. So why have so many schools suddenly changed their tune on SAT/ACT score requirements? There are actually a few reasons for this, and it’s important to understand them so you know how test optional admissions might affect you! 

Why Schools Have Gone Test-Optional  

The main motivator in the recent shift toward test optional admissions is the coronavirus pandemic. During the pandemic, many students didn’t have access to the SAT/ACT because of cancelled exam dates, social distancing concerns, and even financial hardships. As a result, many 2020 and 2021 college applicants didn’t have the chance to take the SAT or ACT at all. 

Hundreds of colleges responded to these challenges by making test score submission optional to try and make the college admissions process fairer for thousands of students who weren’t able to take the ACT or SAT because of COVID. 

But ACT, Inc. points out that the growth of test optional admissions policies was steady before the pandemic too. Many prestigious schools, such as the University of Chicago, George Mason University, and American University had already gone test optional. Based on recent research, these schools (and others like them!) believe that high school grades and other factors are a better predictor of student success and achievement at the college level than SAT/ACT scores. 

Test Scores Can Still Be a Good Predictor of College Success

However, there are also studies that show that high school grades and SAT/ACT scores taken together are an even more effective predictor of success in college. What this means is that many schools are trying to figure out the most effective way to evaluate their applicants’ true potential. Is it just high school grades? Is it grades and test scores? The truth is, we don’t really know for sure yet. 

And because we’re still figuring that out, it’s not totally clear whether all of those top 100 schools will keep their test optional policies in the future. 

In fact, while a significant number of schools have recently gone test optional (or test blind!), the majority of those schools have only adopted a test optional policy temporarily. Many have announced that they’ll remain test optional during a certain time frame (for instance, through the 2021-22 admissions cycle). 

At this point, it’s impossible to know whether these schools will extend their test optional policies or return to requiring SAT/ACT scores.

However, if you’re applying to college in the next year or two, there’s a strong chance that many of the schools you’re considering will keep their test optional policies intact. To make smart decisions about how you’ll handle taking the SAT/ACT for your college applications, you first need to know which schools are currently test optional. We’ll cover all the top 100 schools that are currently test optional next. 

The Top Test-Optional Universities in USA

Now that you’ve had a refresher on the different testing policies, let’s get to the good stuff: our list of all of the best colleges that are test optional in the US. 

To put this table together, we consulted US News & World Report’s list of the 100 best national colleges and universities, then checked each school’s admissions website to confirm their current testing policy. 

You’ll find the current standardized testing policy and US News ranking for 96 of the top 100 schools below! 

There are a lot of terms to know when it comes to understanding a college's testing policy. We'll go over the important vocab below. 

“Test Optional” vs “Test Required”: The Terms You Should Know

If you’re going to apply to any of these best test optional schools, you need to be aware of their standardized testing policies up front. Planning your SAT/ACT prep takes a lot of time and effort, so the sooner you find out which (if any!) test scores are required for your college applications, the better. 

Before we get into all of the best test optional schools, let’s review a few key terms so you know what you’re looking at in the table below: 

Test Optional 

Test optional means that you get to decide whether you submit your SAT or ACT scores as a part of your application for admission. Whether you do or do not submit your test scores, you won’t be penalized in the admissions process. However, keep in mind that test optional policies can vary in meaning based on the goals of the schools that are implementing them. 

Test Blind 

Test blind means that your SAT/ACT scores will not be considered in the admissions process at all. Even if you have your score reports sent in, they won’t be viewed or considered by the admissions office.

Test Flexible 

Test flexible is a term you see less frequently than test optional and test blind, but it’s worth bringing up. Test flexible schools let you decide whether to submit test scores, and if you do decide to submit test scores, you get to choose which exams to submit. 

Exams that may fulfill a test flexible application requirement include, in addition to the SAT or ACT, AP exams, IB exams, AS- and A-Level exams, or results from other national secondary exams. However, some schools that are test flexible note that they’d prefer that you submit test scores, but will still accept your application if you don’t.

Test Scores Required

We don’t include these schools in the table below, but you can assume that if there’s a top 100 school that didn’t make the list, it requires submission of SAT or ACT score as a part of your application for admission. At these schools, if you don’t submit your test scores, you’ll most likely be negatively impacted in the admissions process. 

Should You Still Take the SAT/ACT to Get Into the Top Test Optional Universities in the USA?

You now know that the majority of the top 100 schools in the US are currently test optional. But what does that mean for your college admissions process? Should you still take the SAT or ACT if you’re applying to test optional schools? 

The short answer is yes, you should still take the SAT or ACT for test optional admissions. We’ll explain why as we walk you through four factors you should consider before applying to the best colleges that are test optional below!

Factor 1: High Test Scores Might Increase Your Chances of Acceptance

The best test optional schools have one big thing in common: they clearly state that you won’t be negatively impacted in the admissions process if you don’t submit SAT/ACT scores. But there’s some evidence that students who do submit their SAT/ACT scores to test optional schools have higher chances of admission than those who don’t. 

Here’s an example. According to Inside Higher Ed, among early decision applicants to the University of Pennsylvania’s Fall 2021 cohort, “two-thirds of applicants reported test scores whereas three-quarters of those accepted did.” In other words, a greater proportion of early decision applicants who did submit test scores were accepted to UPenn than applicants who did not submit test scores. 

While that doesn’t necessarily mean that SAT/ACT scores were the deciding factor in those students’ admissions decisions, the fact remains that more applicants who submitted test scores got accepted. 

If you want to know what percentage of admitted applicants submitted test scores, you can search for a school’s Common Data Set, which will often tell you what percentage of students submitted SAT scores, ACT scores, and what the average scores of admitted students are. Doing this can help you decide whether to submit your test scores to test optional schools and aid you in setting goal scores for your exams. 

Factor 2: Some Scholarships Still Require Test Scores

Many test optional policies come with some fine print--and you definitely need to get the full story before you decide to opt out of taking the SAT or ACT for college admissions. 

The truth is that while many schools don’t require test scores for you to receive an offer of admission, they often do require SAT/ACT scores for other things, like scholarships, financial aid, or admission to the honors college and certain majors. 

All this means is that you need to really do your research before you decide to skip the SAT/ACT. You don’t want to apply to the best colleges that are test optional without taking the SAT/ACT, get accepted, and then find out that you aren’t eligible for financial aid or merit-based scholarships. 

Be sure you read about each school’s testing and scholarship policies before you decide on information about a school’s testing policy before you skip the ACT or SAT. And if you can’t find the info you need online, it’s okay to call the admissions office with a list of specific questions about their test score policy and how it affects scholarships, financial aid awards, and admissions. 

Putting all your eggs in one test-optional basket can be risky!

Factor 3: Lots of Schools Aren’t Test Optional

This is a big one--and it’s something you should really think about before making a decision about taking the SAT/ACT: there are tons of schools that still require SAT or ACT scores for admission! 

Even though test optional policies are more common now than ever before, the majority of colleges and universities in the US still require standardized test scores as part of their admissions policies. 

If you’ve been doing your research about best practices for applying to colleges, then you already know that you should apply to safety, match, and reach schools. While many of the top 100 schools in the US are currently test optional, these schools are also reach schools for most college applicants. 

This means that you’ll need to apply to some match or reach schools that may not be test optional--and that means you’ll need to take the SAT or ACT. 

Factor 4: Testing Policies Can Change

You’ll notice from the table of the best colleges that are test optional that most of these schools will end their test optional policies in 2022. While it’s certainly possible that these schools will extend their test optional policies, we just can’t know that for sure at this time. 

This means that taking the SAT or ACT is the smartest choice you can make as you approach the college admissions process. Even if you know you’re only going to apply to test optional schools, having SAT/ACT scores on hand gives you an easy fall back if you’re worried you won’t get accepted to your top choice schools. And if a school that’s currently test optional changes its policy, you won’t be caught off-guard because you’ll already have your test scores ready to go!

Think of it this way: say you’re applying for admission to college for Fall 2023 and you’re planning to apply to schools that are all test optional through Fall 2022. Even if you think those schools will extend their test optional policy, you simply can’t know that for sure. Prepping for the SAT/ACT takes time and effort, so you don’t want to put off your test prep hoping that your top schools will continue waiving test score requirements. 

Here’s what it boils down to: putting in the work to earn solid SAT/ACT scores right now will give you more options and more flexibility in the college admissions process. If you end up not needing your test scores, great! That’s a much better situation than finding you need competitive test scores for top test optional schools and not having them in a pinch.

What’s Next?

If you’re thinking about taking the SAT no matter what, check out our (free!) SAT guide that can help you jumpstart your prep process.

Taking the ACT? No problem. We’ve got a complete (also free!) guide for you, too.

Not sure whether the ACT or SAT is right for you? We’ll walk you through the key differences so you can choose the test that best fits your skills.