2023-2024 College Admissions: Should I Take SAT/ACT This Year?

Will Standardized Tests Be Required This Year?

The present ebb of standardized testing is a godsend for the many students who excel in school but can’t crack the tests.

Due to widespread test cancellations last summer and fall, almost all colleges and universities have gone “test optional” or even “test blind” over the past few admissions cycles.

No one (except, apparently, my alma mater Georgetown) wants to be the stodgy outcast requiring tests when everyone else is laying off, but the tide has not quite yet fully broken and the majority schools remain mum (as of this writing) on whether they will require tests this year.

A few considerations are in play: first, the availability of tests this spring remains uncertain, but, second, schools also want to see if they can navigate admissions decisions without the aid of the SAT or ACT.

All things considered, many schools that before last year required standardized tests will likely remain optional this year and into the future as well. If you don’t end up taking SAT or ACT (or simply don’t end up with a score you like), you’ll still have a range of options among schools that won’t require scores.

Testing Impact on 2023 Early Admissions

That said, a high SAT or ACT score is still a major asset in a college application.

All else being equal, if a school has to decide between two identical students and one submitted a good test score while the other didn’t, the school is going to take the one who submitted.

College admissions are such that this “identical student” scenario comes up all the time. Plus, given the hypercompetitive nature of university applications in modern American life, you can bet that fellow students are going to do everything they possible can to get an edge. That means taking tests even when not required.

What little data has slipped out about testing’s impact on early admissions has been significant. Accepted students still tended to be the most qualified students, and those most qualified students still tended to perform exceptionally well on these tests.

At Penn a few years ago, for example, 24% of accepted students did not submit scores, but the admissions rate for those who did was double (18.4%) for submitters than non-submitters (9.5%).

At Georgetown, just 7.3% of students who didn’t submit scores were admitted, compared to around 11% overall. Note that Georgetown required students to jump through hoops and certify that they were unable to take a test, rather than operating on a pure optional policy like most other schools did. This dampened the effect compared to other top schools.

So Who Should Take SAT/ACT?

Students and parents should start by making an honest assessment – either on your own or with the guidance of experts like us – of where a student is likely to end up scoring.

The costs in time, energy, and tutoring to prepare for the SAT and ACT are, well, nonzero, but the best place to start is by taking a practice test and seeing how you do.

We can send you a practice test and offer a complimentary score analysis to help make the decision about whether to pursue testing and which test might make more sense. Just give us a call or Contact Us online.

If you have a list of schools, compare your scores to their SAT or ACT “midrange” (the middle 50% of scores) for a few of your favorites. If you’re close to it, we say go ahead and start prepping.

A good benchmark for Ivy League schools and the like is 1500 on SAT or 34 on ACT. For other competitive schools, 1400+ SAT and 32+ ACT.

If you’re more than 250-300 points off the middle of the score range for SAT or more than 5 points off for ACT, it may make more sense to focus on grades, extracurriculars, and Essays. You may also need to revisit how competitive you’re likely to be at you top picks, but don’t forget that your score is never the whole story!