Test-optional in 2026: the current re-required list and the strategy that holds up

Before 2020, the SAT or ACT was required at almost every selective US college. COVID disrupted testing, and within months most colleges moved to test-optional policies. By fall 2022 over 80% of US four-year colleges did not require a score. What the data showed afterward: at the most selective schools, the admit rate for non-submitters was meaningfully lower than for submitters with comparable GPAs, even controlling for the obvious selection effects. Internal admissions research at MIT, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, and others concluded that test scores were a non-trivial predictor of academic success once enrolled, particularly for students from under-resourced high schools where GPA inflation made grades less informative. Starting in 2024 with MIT, then accelerating in 2024-25, a wave of selective schools re-required scores. The policy is still moving year-by-year. By the 2026 application cycle the picture has stabilized somewhat, but every applicant should re-verify each school's policy in the year they apply.

These schools require SAT or ACT scores for the 2026 application cycle. MIT (re-required for fall 2024). Required since. Harvard (re-required for fall 2025 entry). Required since. Yale (re-required for fall 2025; accepts SAT, ACT, multiple AP scores, or full IB scores as alternatives). Brown (re-required for fall 2025). Dartmouth (re-required for fall 2025; cited internal research showing scores helped lower-income applicants). Caltech (re-required after a brief test-blind period). Stanford (re-required for fall 2026 entry). UPenn (re-required for fall 2026). Cornell (re-required for fall 2026 across all undergraduate colleges). Georgetown (has always required tests; reaffirmed for 2026). The Florida public university system (UF, FSU, etc.) requires scores per state policy. The University System of Georgia (UGA, Georgia Tech, GSU) requires scores for fall 2026 entry per state policy. Verify each school's official admissions page in your application year. Policy can move quietly between October and the January deadline.

Most state flagships outside Florida and Georgia: Michigan, UVA, UNC, Washington, Wisconsin, Maryland, Texas, Ohio State, and others. The UC system is test-blind for in-state admissions (does not consider scores at all even if submitted), test-optional for OOS scholarship consideration. Most liberal arts colleges: Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Carleton, Wesleyan, Swarthmore, Smith, and the majority of the top 50 LACs. The LACs have been the most consistent holdouts. Most private universities outside the very top: NYU, Northeastern, Boston University, Tulane, Wake Forest, USC (Southern California), Emory, Vanderbilt (test-optional through current cycle, verify for 2027), and similar. Most regional universities and most state directional schools. The trend: schools that are test-optional today are increasingly explicit that their policy will hold for at least the next admission cycle. The schools likely to move next are those still studying internal data. Verify in October of your application year.

The rule for test-optional schools is simpler than most families realize. Submit your score if it is at or above the school's 25th percentile (lower bound of the middle 50%). Withhold it if it's below the 25th. The 25th percentile floor exists because at most test-optional schools, the admission readers do quietly factor in a submitted score even if the policy says it's optional. A below-25th-percentile score is a negative signal that gets weighed against you. Withholding it removes the negative signal. Above the 25th percentile, a score becomes a positive signal because it tells the reader that this student is academically prepared at the level of their average admit. Above the 50th, it's an actively strong positive. Above the 75th, it's an asset. The 25th-percentile data is on each school's Common Data Set Section C9 (the standardized institutional data publication). Or check the school's admissions website, which usually summarizes admit-class statistics.

Many test-optional schools still tie automatic merit scholarships to test scores. This is especially true at large public universities with published merit grids: Alabama, Arizona State, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Auburn, Iowa State, Florida State (where required anyway), and several others. The school may not require a score for admission, but the dollars are score-gated. The practical implication: if your score is below the 25th percentile for admission but high enough to hit an automatic merit tier, submit the score. The admissions reader's mild negative is more than offset by the $5,000-$25,000/year in automatic merit. This matters most for borderline merit students. A 1290 student admitted to a school with a 1320 25th percentile might withhold the score for admissions purposes. But if 1280+ hits a $12,000/year merit tier, submit. The merit gates are usually published; check each school's scholarship grid.

Test-optional means you may submit or withhold; if you submit, the score is considered. Test-blind means the school does not consider scores even if you submit them. The two policies have different strategic implications. The UC system is test-blind for California residents applying for admission. There is no decision to make: scores are ignored. Don't waste application time worrying about it. Most test-optional schools are not test-blind. The submitted score is read. The submission decision matters. A small number of schools are test-flexible: they accept SAT or ACT, but also accept alternatives like APs, IB scores, or other graded assessments. Yale and Bowdoin have versions of this. The flexibility opens doors for students who tested poorly on the SAT but have strong AP exam scores.

If your target list includes any re-required school (MIT, Ivies, Stanford, Caltech, Georgetown, FL/GA publics), you need a usable score by senior fall. There is no test-optional escape hatch at these schools. Plan accordingly. If your target list is entirely test-optional and your projected score is below the 25th percentile at your top targets, you can deprioritize testing. Spend the prep time on essays, course rigor, and extracurriculars instead. Submit no score. If your target list is a mix (some required, some optional, some auto-merit), get the score as strong as you can. You can withhold at the optionals if it falls short. You can't conjure a score for the required schools at the deadline. The biggest mistake in 2026 is assuming your favorite school is still test-optional because it was in 2022. Verify each school in October of senior year. Then plan submission school by school based on the 25th-percentile rule.