Test-Optional in College Admissions: Why You Should Still Take the SAT or ACT
Editor’s Note (2025):
This post was originally written in 2021, during the height of the pandemic when many colleges adopted test-optional policies. As of 2025, some universities have reinstated SAT/ACT requirements while others remain test-optional. Nevertheless, the underlying logic presented here remains highly relevant to families navigating the current admissions landscape.
Now that SAT and ACT are optional, should I take one?
Yes. And here are four reasons why:
If they truly didn’t care, they would have banned the tests altogether.
There’s a hidden incentive behind the “optional” label.
Most things in the Common App are already optional — but you still submit them.
There’s little downside and a lot of upside.
“Optional” doesn’t mean “irrelevant.”
Let’s take a look at the language colleges often use when announcing their test-optional policy:
“We fully understand the hardship that students are going through under the current situation and will not penalize applicants for not submitting SAT or ACT scores.”
And yet, in the same breath:
“We appreciate the determination of students who managed to take the SAT or ACT and will fully consider their scores as part of the holistic review.”
These statements are logically incompatible. If scores don’t matter, why “fully consider” them at all?
If schools were genuinely indifferent to test results, they wouldn’t make them optional — they’d eliminate them altogether.
What’s the hidden motive?
Test-optional policies predate COVID. They are part of a broader trend: lowering visible admissions barriers so that schools can encourage more applications, drive down acceptance rates, and climb up in rankings. More applicants mean more selectivity, which means more prestige, which brings in even more applicants. It’s a virtuous cycle — for the schools.
Let’s talk about the average.
If a college’s average SAT score is 1460, should a student with a 1460 feel safe?
Not quite.
Think about it like this: the average income per person in the U.S. is over $60,000. That would suggest a family of four should be bringing in $240,000 annually. But most families aren’t. That’s because a small number of top earners distort the average.
The same goes for test scores. If you're aiming for a Top 10% school, everything in your application — including your test scores — should be above average.
Tests are the easiest part to control.
Among the many moving parts in college admissions — GPA, extracurriculars, essays, recommendations — test scores are the most coachable and quickest to improve.
In my intensive programs:
SAT scores routinely go up by 200+ points in just 5 weeks.
ACT scores rise by 6+ points on average.
For students who don’t have 5 weeks? I offer targeted 10-day bootcamps during school breaks.
If something so impactful can be improved so quickly, why wouldn’t you do it — “optional” or not?
Final Thoughts
Test-optional doesn’t mean test-ignored. It just means that the game has changed — and the rules are now unwritten.
If you can take control of even one part of your application and make it shine, do it. The SAT or ACT might be optional — but being strategic about it is not.
