The COVID pandemic gave a massive boost to the test-optional movement. Noting that many students could not find an open test center in their area, most colleges excused students from submitting ACT/SAT test results. According to the administrators of the Common Application, between 2019 and 2021 the percentage of applicants submitting scores dropped from 78% to 51%. There are now over 1,000 test-optional colleges in the United States. See Top Colleges That Still Require Test Scores | The Short List: Colleges | U.S. News (usnews.com). Mandatory standardized testing appeared to be on its last legs.
However, MIT reinstated mandatory submission of ACT/SAT scores in 2022. The last few months have seen a handful of elite colleges follow suit, including Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown. Yale’s policy softens the blow by allowing students to submit scores from the ACT, SAT, IB (International Baccalaureate), or AP exams. Look for more colleges returning to mandatory standardized testing to use this template, called “flexible testing.”
These colleges cited data on their students’ performance to justify reinstatement of the requirement. Other colleges are citing internal data on student performance showing that ACT/SAT scores are more predictive of student success than GPAs.
In March 2024, the University of Texas at Austin reinstated its standardized test requirement. Its announcement included one striking finding:
The higher standardized scores translated on average to better collegiate academic performance. Of 9,217 first-year students enrolled in 2023, those who opted in had an estimated average GPA of 0.86 grade points higher during their first fall semester, controlling for a wide range of factors, including high school class rank and GPA. Those same students were estimated to be 55% less likely to have a first-semester college GPA of less than 2.0, all else equal.
UT Austin Reinstates Standardized Test Scores in Admissions – UT News (utexas.edu) (emphasis added).
This discrepancy may persuade more peer institutions to change their test-optional policies.
UT Austin’s decision is particularly interesting because it is one of the few universities nationwide that guarantees admission based solely on students’ class rank at their high school. Specifically, UT Austin must fill 75% of its class with students in the top 6% of their class rank. (For the other Texas public universities, any student scoring in the top 10% earns automatic admission.)
The University of California has a “Top 9% Rule,” but students who qualify are funneled into the less prestigious campuses. See Statewide guarantee | UC Admissions (universityofcalifornia.edu).
Because the University of California is currently test-blind, it has no interest in considering test scores. However, UT Austin does, and its focus on students’ high school class rank would seem to limit its ability to consider ACT/SAT scores. Indeed, students in the top 6% need only score a 480/530 on the SAT to gain admission.
But UT Austin’s new testing requirement adds teeth:
Standardized test scores will not change the admissions decision for automatic admits, of course, but will be used to match applicants to their choice of majors.
UT Austin Reinstates Standardized Test Scores in Admissions – UT News (utexas.edu)
Expect other universities to adopt this policy regarding choice of major as a compromise between mandatory standardized testing and a pure “test-optional” protocol. Such policies may focus on further limiting admission to already competitive majors such as computer science, engineering, and business.
UPDATE (4/14/24):
Add Harvard and CalTech to the list of colleges requiring standardized testing; expect several more by the next admissions cycle.