Test-Optional Colleges In Response to COVID-19 2020-2021

In light of testing uncertainty due to the Covid pandemic, including cancelled SAT and ACT test dates and testing center closures, more than half of US colleges and universities are now test-optional for 2020-2021, with some adopting permanent test-optional policies.

While thousands of colleges are no longer requiring SAT or ACT scores, that doesn’t mean that college admissions committees are test-blind. Test-optional means that colleges give you the option of submitting standardized test scores from the SAT or ACT. If you do submit scores, the admissions committee will consider them; however, if you do not submit SAT scores or ACT scores, they won’t penalize you. A quick note about Subject Tests: no US colleges require Subject Tests. Yes, you read that right. As of March 2020, there are zero US colleges that require Subject Tests.

So…should you prep for the SAT or ACT since so many schools have gone test-optional?
Current 11th, 10th, and 9th graders should note that most colleges have announced a temporary test-optional policy for one year. Schools will reevaluate their policies at the conclusion of the 2020-2021 admissions cycle and some will for sure become test-optional permanently. But many will not.

Class of 2022: Plan for test prep as you would have pre-Covid, as many colleges will go back to requiring test scores. Plus, test-optional has never meant test-blind…and that will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. You should also note that some schools that have gone test-optional for 2020-2021 don’t extend the test-optional policy to all applicants. If you are a recruited athlete, a homeschooled student, an international student, or a transfer applicant, double-check to ensure that the test-optional policy applies to you. In many instances, it will not. Students interested in merit scholarships should also check to see if standardized test scores are required for scholarship consideration of any kind.

To help with your planning, Expert Admissions has compiled an edited list of colleges that have made test-optional announcements in response to testing disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This is not a complete list of test-optional schools.

College/University            Policy                 Dates               Link                      Additional Notes
Amherst College                 Test-Optional        This Year       Amherst Policy

Babson College                   Test-Optional        This Year       Babson Policy

Barnard College                  Test-Optional         This Year       Barnard Policy

Bentley University               Test-Optional         This Year       Bentley Policy

Boston College                    Test-Optional         This Year        BC Policy

Boston University                Test-Optional         This Year        BU Policy

Brown University                 Test-Optional*       This Year        Brown Policy           *No longer recommending Subject Tests

Bucknell University              Test-Optional         Permanent     Bucknell Policy

California Institute of
Technology (Caltech)          Test-Blind                Two Years*    Caltech Policy         * Test-blind permanently for Subject Tests

Carleton College                  Test-Optional          This Year       Carleton Policy

Carnegie Mellon
University                              Test-Optional           This Year       CMU Policy

Case Western
Reserve University                Test-Optional            Fall 2020       CWRU Policy

Claremont McKenna
College                                   Test-Optional            This Year         CMC Policy

Colgate University                 Test-Optional            This Year         Colgate Policy

College of Charleston           Test-Optional            This Year         C of C Policy

College of William
and Mary                                 Test-Optional            Three Years     W&M Policy

Columbia University          Test-Optional            This Year          Columbia Policy

Cooper Union                      Test-Optional            Two Years        Cooper Policy

Cornell University              Test-Optional            This Year          Cornell Policy

Dartmouth College             Test-Optional            This Year         Dartmouth Policy

Davidson College                Test-Optional            Three Years     Davidson Policy

Duke University                  Test-Optional            This Year          Duke Policy

Eckerd College                    Test-Optional            Two Years         Eckerd Policy

Elon University                   Test-Optional            Three Years      Elon Policy

Emory University               Test-Optional            This year           Emory University

Fordham University           Test-Optional            Two Years         Fordham Policy

Georgetown University      Test-Flexible*            This Year          Georgetown Policy        *If a hardship

Gonzaga University            Test-Optional             This Year          Gonzaga Policy

Grinnell College                   Test-Optional            This Year           Grinnell Policy

Hamilton College                Test-Optional             This Year           Hamilton Policy

Harvard University            Test-Optional             This Year            Harvard Policy

Haverford College              Test-Optional             Three Years        Haverford Policy

Indiana University
– Bloomington                     Test-Optional              Permanent         IU Policy

Johns Hopkins
University                             Test-Optional              This Year            Hopkins Policy

Kenyon College                   Test-Optional               This Year            Kenyon Policy

Lafayette College                Test-Optional                This Year           Lafayette Policy

Lehigh University               Test-Optional                This Year           Lehigh Policy

Loyola Marymount
University                             Test-Optional               This Year            LMU Policy

Macalester College              Test-Optional               Permanent         Macalester Policy

Miami University (Ohio)   Test-Optional               One Year             Miami Policy

Middlebury College            Test-Optional                Three Years       Middlebury Policy

Northeastern University    Test-Optional                This Year           Northeastern Policy

Northwestern University   Test-Optional                This Year           Northwestern Policy

Ohio State University          Teat-Optional               This Year           OSU Policy

Pennsylvania State
University                             Test-Optional                 This Year           Penn State Policy

Pomona College                  Test-Optional                 This Year           Pomona Policy

Princeton University          Test-Optional                 This Year           Princeton Policy

Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (RPI)                     Test-Optional                 This Year            RPI Policy

Rhodes College                    Test-Optional                 This Year            Rhodes Policy

Rice University                    Test-Optional                 This Year            Rice Policy

Rochester Institute of
Technology (RIT)               Test-Optional                 Permanent          RIT Policy

Rutgers University             Test-Optional                 This Year             Rutgers Policy

Santa Clara University       Test-Optional                Two Years            SCU Policy

Scripps College                    Test-Optional                Permanent           Scripps Policy

Southern Methodist
University (SMU)                Test-Optional                 This Year             SMU Policy

Stanford University            Test-Optional                 This Year             Stanford Policy

Stevens Institute                 Test-Optional                 This Year              Stevens Policy
of Technology 

Swarthmore College           Test-Optional                 Two Years            Swarthmore Policy

Syracuse University            Test-Optional                This Year              Syracuse Policy

Texas A&M University       Test-Optional                 This Year             Texas A&M University

Texas Christian
University (TCU)                 Test-Optional                 This Year             TCU Policy

Tufts University                   Test-Optional                 Three Years         Tufts Policy

Tulane University                Test-Optional                 This Year              Tulane Policy

University of
California System                 Test-Optional                 Two Years*           UC Policy            * Test-blind for CA residents only starting Fall 2022

University of
Connecticut (UConn)          Test-Optional                  Three Years          UConn Policy

University of Delaware       Test-Optional                   This Year*            UDel Policy        *For DE HS students only starting Fall 2021

University of Illinois-          Test-Optional                    This Year             UIUC Policy
Urbana-Champaign

University of Miami            Test-Optional                    This Year             UM Policy

University of
Pennsylvania                        Test-Optional                    This Year              Penn Policy

University of Richmond     Test-Optional                    This Year              Richmond Policy

University of Rochester      Test-Optional                    Permanent           Rochester Policy

University of
San Francisco                       Test-Optional                     Permanent            USF Policy

University of Southern
California (USC)                  Test-Optional                     This Year                USC Policy

University of Texas-            Test-Optional                      This Year               UT Policy
Austin

University of Virginia         Test-Optional                     This Year                UVA Policy

University of Washington  Test-Optional                     Permanent             UW Policy

Vassar College                   Test-Optional                     This Year                Vassar Policy

Villanova University           Test-Optional                      This Year                Villanova Policy

Virginia Institute of
Technology (Virginia Tech)Test-Optional                    This Year                Virginia Tech Policy

Washington and
Lee University                      Test-Optional                      This Year                W&L Policy

Washington University
in St. Louis                            Test-Optional                      This Year                Wash U Policy

Wellesley College                 Test-Optional                      This Year                Wellesley Policy

Williams College                  Test-Optional                      This Year                Williams Policy

Yale University                     Test-Optional*                   This Year                 Yale Policy                *Test-blind for Subject Tests