TEXAS — The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a laundry list of societal changes, introducing a “new normal.” With the rise of remote learning during the zenith of virus spread in 2020, many Texas universities have altered admissions requirements, making the submission of ACT and SAT scores optional to students. After making some long-term observations of undergraduate admissions data, public colleges in Texas might be saying goodbye to the requirement completely.
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- List of SAT and ACT Test Optional Colleges for 2022-2023
- Book Your Free College Admissions Consultation HERE.
- Is UT Austin requiring SAT 2023?
- Is UT test optional 2023?
- Is Texas test optional 2023?
- Can Class of 2023 apply test optional?
Some universities already offered a test-optional policy because of the state law that allows automatic admission to students in the top 10% of their high school class.
However, lots of students faced some unavoidable struggles, with the arrival of COVID-19 causing a big pause in standardized testing locations. And even though testing sites are now back open, the presentation of those scores is still optional for some.
According to the University of Texas at Austin’s admission policy, high school students expected to enroll in the fall of 2023 as undergrads will not be required to attach their standardized test scores along with their application. “This change was initially made in Fall 2021 in order to allow the university to better serve potential students by ensuring that testing limitations related to COVID-19 do not affect a student’s ability to apply,” the university wrote.
Although COVID infection rates have decreased substantially, universities have noticed some positive results in ridding students of the worry that standardized tests often bring about.
In a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article, Chris Reed, executive director of admissions at Texas A&M University in College Station, said, “It was an opportunity that a lot of schools are grateful they’ve been able to take. The pandemic created an opportunity when it was the right thing to do.… Now we have a living, breathing dataset to evaluate some of those assumptions.”
Texas A&M, like UT Austin, pushed its policy to 2023, but in the spring. Texas State University has dismissed the requirement of SAT and ACT scores for all 2022 terms. Texas Tech University has applied a policy extension until 2025.
Data from some universities showed that with the test-optional policy, more minorities were enrolled.
The University of Texas at Arlington cited an increase in Black students’ admission after its decision to do away with ACT and SAT scores, according to the Star-Telegram. Black freshmen students’ enrollment shot up by 34%, from 519 to 694, in fall 2021. The Fort Worth paper named Texas State as another university that saw a 6% spike in Black students.
Scholars and experts from all over have reported racial biases in standardized testing for years, data frequently exposing the educational disadvantages of children based on their collective socioeconomic background. Although a definitive conclusion can’t be made in that the removal of standardized testing will increase the college enrollment of minorities, the results of UT at Arlington and Texas State remain.
Ironically, HBCUs Texas Southern University in Houston and Prairie View A&M University restored the admissions policy to require standardized test scores. TSU in Houston only requires test scores from applicants with a 2.5 GPA or lower. As for Prairie View, all freshmen applicants are to submit their test scores.
“The test-optional trend has opened up a lot more opportunities for students who are low-income, who don’t come from high schools that emphasize testing like more resourced counterparts,” said Sara Urquidez with Academic Success Program Dallas, in a statement to the Star-Telegram. “But I don’t think it’s changed the fundamental question of college affordability for low-income students.”
Despite many Texas universities claiming to still use submitted test scores as a means for merit-based scholarships, and being open to those who do not, Urquidez told the Star-Telegram those scholarships seem to be offered in moderation to those without test scores. So, it poses the question, “How can universities really move toward test-optional, if limitations still exist for students who choose not to submit their scores?”
Many educators have detested the need for standardized testing, but most are still afraid that others will not hop on board simply because they're stuck in their ways and it's less taxing to go about changing an admissions policy that's been around for a long time.
Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Penn, Dartmouth, and Stanford have all recently announced that they will remain test optional through the high school class of 2023, with Cornell going a step further remaining test optional through the high school class of 2024, and Harvard through 2026! We expect most every other highly selective institutions to follow suit [with the exception of MIT which recently announced it will require tests].
Our assessment is that Test Optional is here to stay, and we are thrilled! At this point, we are recommending that the high school class of 2023 [current 11th graders/rising seniors] still consider taking the ACT or SAT, but whether or not they submit their scores should depend on test availability and personal performance. Our advice is that: 1. Students should not be engaged in herculean efforts to take a test [e.g., travel great distances to find a test or sacrifice your mental/physical health]; 2. If your test score does not fall within the upper 50% range of your desired school OR it doesn’t reflect your academic school performance, you have the option not to submit; 3. You must enter the college admissions cycle with your eyes wide open. Remember, if you decide not to submit your test score, everything else will matter more in the admissions process. Rigor and grades will matter the most supported by a compelling story.
We are encouraged by the number of schools that already have announced a test optional policy through high school class of 2023 and beyond. Combined with the schools that have been traditionally [and permanently] test optional, there are more test optional choices than ever for the high school class of 2023 and we anticipate more to come.
Since the start of the pandemic, The College Curators have successfully advised 100s of students on navigating the test optional environment. We expertly guide our students to build a balanced college list supported by an authentic and verifiable application.
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List of SAT and ACT Test Optional Colleges for 2022-2023
Allegheny College*
American University*
Amherst
Adelphi University
Babson University
Bard College*
Barnard College
Bates College*
Baylor University
Binghamton University
Bennington College*
Boston University
Bowdoin College
Bucknell University
Brandeis University*
Brown University
Bryn Mawr College*
Bucknell University*
California Institute of Technology
Cal State System [Test Blind through Spring 2023 with 2.5]
Carnegie Mellon University
Case Western Reserve University
Chapman University
Clark University*
Claremont McKenna College
Colby College*
Colgate University
Colorado College*
Colorado School of Mines
Columbia University
College of Charleston
College of William & Mary
Connecticut College*
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
Denison University*
Dickinson College*
Drexel University
Duke University
Earlham College*
Elon University
Emerson College
Franklin and Marshall College*
Furman University*
George Washington University*
Gettysburg College*
Gonzaga University
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Harvey Mudd
Haverford College
Hobart and William Smith Colleges*
Howard University
Indiana University – Bloomington
Johns Hopkins University
Knox College*
Lafayette College
Lawrence University*
Lehigh University
Lewis and Clark College*
Loyola Marymount University
Macalester College*
Marquette University
Michigan State University
Middlebury College
Mount Holyoke College*
Muhlenberg College*
Northeastern University
Northwestern University
Oberlin College and Conservatory
Occidental College
Oglethorpe University
Penn State University
Pepperdine University
Pitzer College
Princeton University
Providence College
Pomona College
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rhodes College
Rhode Island School of Design
Rutgers University
Santa Clara University
Sewanee – The University of the South
Smith College
Soka University of America
Southern Methodist University
St. Louis University
Stanford University
Stevens Institute of Technology
Stony Brook University
Swarthmore College
Syracuse University
Temple University
Texas A & M University-College Station
Trinity University
Tufts University [3-year pilot]
University of Alabama
University of California System [all campuses test blind]
University of Chicago*
University of Connecticut
University of Maryland
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Southern California
University of Pennsylvania
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
University of Texas at Austin
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Vassar College
Washington University in St. Louis
Wellesley College
Williams College
Yale University
*Colleges with Permanently Test Optional Policy
**Go to fairtest.org for complete list
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Is UT Austin requiring SAT 2023?
High school students who apply to The University of Texas at Austin for fall 2023 undergraduate admission will not be required to submit an ACT or SAT test score as part of their application. Below are frequently asked questions regarding this policy change.
Is UT test optional 2023?
The University of Tennessee System has decided that all campuses, including UT Knoxville, will now require standardized tests [ACT/SAT] for first-year applicants applying to attend UT in Summer 2023 and Fall 2023. Please note, there is no impact to Fall 2022 entering students.
Is Texas test optional 2023?
But although COVID infections are down and in-person standardized tests are widely available again, the majority of Texas public universities are keeping the SAT and ACT optional until the spring of 2023 or later.
Can Class of 2023 apply test optional?
Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Penn, Dartmouth, and Stanford have all recently announced that they will remain test optional through the high school class of 2023, with Cornell going a step further remaining test optional through the high school class of 2024, and Harvard through 2026!