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You have probably heard rumors about prestigious schools (U Chicago, Wake Forest, Brandeis, etc.) no longer requiring SAT scores from their applicants. While the content is certainly correct, the truth is, most of these news reports are misleading—not requiring SAT scores is by no means suggesting it’s easier to get into these prestigious school. In fact, the opposite may be true.
Although SAT-optional colleges do not ask for your test scores, those who do well on the test are more encouraged to include their scores in the application because the purpose of standardized tests—showcasing an applicant’s academic ability and potential—doesn’t change. Ultimately, what these schools are doing is giving YOU the power to present your strengths to admissions officers.
Here are some popular schools that SAT-optional (US News top 100)
National Universities:
| School Name | Notes |
| U Chicago | |
| Wake Forest University | |
| New York University | Test flexible |
| Brandeis University | |
| University of Rochester | Test flexible |
| The George Washington University | |
| University of Texas, Austin | Top 8% rule* |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute | |
| American University | |
| Texas A&M University | Top 10% rule** |
| Clark University | |
| University of Delaware | |
| Drexel University | Test flexible |
UT-Austin automatically admits students in the top 8 percent of their class
Texas A&M University automatically admits students in the top 10 percent of their class.
National Liberal Arts Colleges:
| School Name | Notes |
| Bowdoin College | |
| Middlebury College | Test flexible |
| Colby College | Test flexible |
| Smith College | |
| Hamilton College | Test flexible |
| Wesleyan University | |
| Bates College | |
| Colorado College | Test flexible |
| Bryn Mawr | |
| College of the Holy Cross | |
| Pitzer College | |
| Mount Holyoke College | |
| Union College | |
| Franklin and Marshall College | |
| Sewanee–University of the South | |
| Skidmore College | |
| Whitman College | |
| Trinity College | |
| Bard College | |
| Connecticut College | |
| Denison University | |
| Gettysburg College | |
| Furman University | |
| St. John’s College | |
| Sarah Lawrence College | |
| Lawrence University | |
| St. Lawrence University | |
| Agnes Scott College | |
| Hobart and William Smith Colleges | |
| Earlham College | |
| University of Puget Sound | |
| Knox College | |
| Muhlenberg College | |
| Wofford College | |
| Beloit College | |
| Kalamazoo College | |
| Lewis and Clark | |
| St. John’s College | |
| Wheaton College | |
| Allegheny College | |
| Willamette University | |
| Gustavus Adolphus | |
| Bennington College | |
| Cornell College | |
| Transylvania University | |
| Austin College | |
| College of the Atlantic | |
| Ursinus College | |
| Washington College |
As you can see, most of the top liberal arts colleges are test-optional because they tend to place less emphasis on tests. Yet, most prestigious national universities still require your SAT score, including all Ivy League schools (Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, etc.), top-tier public schools (UC’s, U Michigan, etc), research institutions (MIT, Cal Tech, etc.), and other private schools (Stanford, Northwestern, etc.)
Because your college list will change as you do more college research and explore different programs, you should not limit yourself to schools that don’t require SAT scores. Plus, school policy may change from year to year, so you should keep your options open by prepping and taking the SAT/ACT first. After all, having a good test score never hurts; SAT and Subject Tests/AP Tests will be a strong component of your application that demonstrates your academic capabilities as an undergraduate, no matter which school you apply to.
