Do test scores improve chances of admissions?

The big question now is whether an applicant should take the SAT or ACT given that the highly selective colleges, MIT excepted, are test optional?

The answer is Yes! And submit those test scores if they fall within or above the college’s published middle 50% test score ranges.

You can be sure that so long as the colleges are still accepting test scores, they will be evaluating them too. You put yourself in a better competitive position for admission by submitting strong test scores. Of course, if you have weak test scores, you now have the option of not submitting them at all.

Learn What a College’s Test Score Ranges Mean

While many of the selective colleges have been cagey about the difference in acceptance rates between applicants who submit test scores, and applicants who do not, it is clear from the publicly available data that those who submit test scores gain acceptance at much higher rates.

We took a closer look at the data published in the Common Data Sets for the Class of 2025, and found that at 42 of the 61 highly selective colleges, the majority of the freshman class had submitted test scores with their applications. At only 4 of the colleges were freshmen who had submitted test scores in the minority of the class. Unfortunately, 13 colleges did not disclose the relevant data at all, and 2 more have eliminated standardized tests altogether.

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How did the colleges treat test optionality?

The 4 colleges where a minority of the Class of 2025 submitted test scores include Boston University (45%), Northeastern University (42%), Pitzer College (35%), and Villanova University (45%). It appears that submitting a test score with your application is not crucial to admission at these colleges.

However, at 42 of the colleges, freshman in the Class of 2025 who submitted test scores vastly outnumbered those who did not submit test scores. The acceptance rates for those who submitted test scores with their applications were clearly multiples of those who did not submit test scores.

At Georgetown University and University of Notre Dame, 100% of the Class of 2025 submitted test scores which means that anyone who did not submit a test score in their application to these 2 colleges was rejected.

For the Class of 2025, 91% of freshman at Princeton and 89% of freshman at Yale submitted test scores, which means that those with test scores outnumbered those without on a ratio of 9 to 1 at these 2 colleges.

At Bowdoin College (88%), Brown University (81%), Dartmouth College (78%) Georgia Institute of Technology (89%), Harvard University (85%), Northwestern University (82%), Stanford University (79%), University of Michigan (86%) and Wesleyan University (78%), those with test scores outnumbered those without by a ratio of about 4 to 4.5 to 1.

Only at Barnard College, Claremont McKenna College, Colgate University, Hamilton College, Middlebury College, Tufts University, Vassar College, and Wake Forest University were those who submitted test scores evenly split with those who did not submit test scores in the class of 2025.

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Table of percentage of Class of 2025 who submitted test scores and class rank at highly selective colleges

Data obtained from Common Data Sets 2021-2022

Percent of students submitting test scores and class rank at highly selective colleges
Class of 2025
	SAT Middle 50%	ACT Middle 50%	% SAT Scores Submitted	% ACT Scores Submitted	Total	% Class Rank Submitted
Amherst College	1440-1540	32-34	35%	31%	66%	27%
Babson College	1400-1500	31-34	-	-	-	-
Barnard College	1445-1530	30-33	30%	21%	51%	33%
Bates College	1290-1440	30-34	35%	24%	59%	-
Boston College	1430-1510	33-34	-	-	-	-
Boston University	1390-1490	31-34	32%	13%	45%	21%
Bowdoin College	1330-1510	31-34	55%	33%	88%	-
Brown University	1470-1550	33-35	51%	30%	81%	23%
California Institute of Technology	1530-1580	35-36	-	-	-	-
Carleton College	1440-1530	31-35	35%	34%	69%	33%
Carnegie Mellon University	1480-1560	33-35	48%	22%	70%	57%
Claremont McKenna College	1440-1500	32-35	28%	25%	53%	16%
Colby College	1380-1520	31-34	-	-	-	-
Colgate University	1360-1490	31-34	30%	23%	53%	17%
Colorado College	1265-1450	29-33	44%	33%	77%	26%
Columbia University	1510-1560	34-35	-	-	-	-
Cornell University	1450-1540	33-35	41%	20%	61%	22%
Dartmouth College	1440-1560	32-35	-	-	-	-
Davidson College	1340-1480	30-33	39%	39%	78%	31%
Duke University	1510-1560	34-36	-	-	-	-
Emory University	1430-1530	32-34	37%	27%	64%	22%
Georgetown University	1380-1530	32-35	64%	38%	102%	62%
Georgia Institute of Technology	1370-1520	31-35	53%	36%	89%	41%
Grinnell College	1370-1530	30-34	-	-	-	-
Hamilton College	1440-1520	33-35	32%	20%	52%	21%
Harvard University	1480-1580	33-36	54%	31%	85%	31%
Harvey Mudd College	1470-1540	34-36	40%	20%	60%	-
Haverford College	1440-1520	33-35	38%	21%	59%	27%
John Hopkins University	1480-1550	33-35	-	-	-	-
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	1510-1580	34-36	-	-	-	-
Middlebury College	1400-1520	32-34	31%	23%	54%	-
Northeastern University	1440-1530	33-35	28%	14%	42%	18%
Northwestern University	1490-1550	33-35	43%	39%	82%	-
New York University	1350-1530	31-35	-	-	-	-
Pitzer College	1407-1500	31-33	19%	16%	35%	15%
Pomona College	1480-1550	33-35	37%	29%	66%	24%
Princeton University	1470-1560	33-35	56%	35%	91%	-
Rice University	1470-1570	34-35	46%	29%	75%	44%
Stanford University	1470-1560	34-35	48%	31%	79%	-
Swathmore College	1440-1540	33-35	39%	21%	60%	35%
Tufts University	1450-1530	33-35	31%	23%	54%	25%
Tulane University	1380-1490	30-33	15%	41%	56%	20%
University of California Berkeley	1310-1530	30-35	-	-	-	-
University of California Los Angeles	1300-1530	29-35	-	-	-	-
University of Michigan	1360-1530	31-35	54%	32%	86%	-
University of Chicago	1510-1560	33-35	-	-	-	-
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill	1330-1500	29-33	15%	60%	75%	68%
University of Notre Dame	1410-1550	32-35	48%	52%	100%	-
University of Pennsylvania	1490-1560	35-36	-	-	-	-
University of Southern California	1330-1520	30-34	47%	26%	73%	26%
University of Virginia	1400-1510	32-35	51%	21%	72%	39%
Vanderbilt University	1480-1570	34-35	25%	32%	57%	31%
Vassar College	1420-1520	32-34	30%	20%	50%	30%
Villanova University	1350-1490	31-34	28%	17%	45%	23%
Wake Forest University	1380-1480	30-33	23%	32%	55%	19%
Washington and Lee University	1410-1530	32-35	26%	32%	58%	33%
Washington University in St. Louis	1490-1570	33-35	25%	41%	66%	27%
Wellesley College	1410-1530	31-35	37%	23%	60%	31%
Wesleyan University	1310-1490	31-34	51%	27%	78%	25%
Williams College	1470-1550	33-35	43%	28%	71%	18%
Yale University	1480-1560	33-35	54%	35%	89%	28%

Why do test scores matter despite test optionality?

With the exception of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which has reinstated SAT/ACT test scores as part of their admissions evaluation, many of the highly selective colleges have indicated that they will continue to be test optional for the 2023/2024 application cycle and the foreseeable future, with the University of California system doing away with test scores permanently.

There is much insight to be gained from MIT’s reasoning for why they reinstated test scores. Here is what Dean of Admissions and Student Financial Services Stuart Schmill at MIT has to say:

“Research conducted by the admissions office shows that the standardized tests are an important factor in assessing the academic preparation of applicants from all backgrounds………the standardized exams are most helpful for assisting the admissions office in identifying socioeconomically disadvantaged students who are well-prepared for MIT’s challenging education, but who don’t have the opportunity to take advanced coursework, participate in expensive enrichment programs, or otherwise enhance their college applications…..

In short: Our research has shown that, in most cases, we cannot reliably predict students will do well at MIT unless we consider standardized test results alongside grades, coursework, and other factors. These findings are statistically robust and stable over time, and hold when you control for socioeconomic factors and look across demographic groups. And the math component of the testing turns out to be most important.”

We can fully understand why MIT felt a need to ensure that applicants had strong competencies in math before admitting them into one of the world’s most renowned STEM universities.

The University of California, under heavy political pressure, went against its own research findings that SAT/ACT scores predict freshman success at UC campuses better than high school grades do, and eliminated test scores from admissions and scholarship evaluations altogether.

Clearly, despite test optionality, the colleges are in agreement with MIT’s reasoning and have as a matter of practice issued acceptances to applicants who submitted test scores at rates that are multiples of those who did not submit test scores.

SAT/ACT Test Scores are still very important

The data for the Class of 2025 clearly demonstrate that test scores still matter a great deal for admission to the highly selective colleges. A serious applicant to a highly selective college should do their absolute best to submit a strong score on the SAT or ACT to strengthen their academic case and enhance their chances of admission.

Only 4 colleges admitted more applicants who did not submit test scores than those who did, the verdict is in on taking the SAT or the ACT, and it is a resoundingly in favor of taking one of the standardized tests.

Which test you take is not particularly relevant, the colleges will accept test scores for either the SAT or the ACT.

For those who are contemplating not submitting a test score, it is important to remember that, in the absence of a test score, admissions committees will be forced to rely more heavily on an applicant’s GPA, AP and honors scores and overall academic rigor of the applicant’s high school classes to determine academic strength and ability to handle a rigorous college curriculum.

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