Ahhhhh, the rows of desks, the No. 2 pencils sharpened and ready, the flimsy-yet-daunting booklet daring you to open it, the numbered columns of blank ovals …
I’m kidding. No one, including people who did well on standardized tests, admits to feeling nostalgic for the pressure cooker of the SAT or ACT. Those exams became largely optional during the pandemic, but they’re making something of a comeback in 2025.
As your child goes through the admissions process, you should be asking yourself three questions: Should my child take a standardized test? If so, which one? And should they submit their scores to the colleges where they are applying? Let’s dig in.
Since I mostly fill out ovals when I vote, I put those questions to my colleague Alvin Carter, a senior admissions officer at CollegeAdvisor.
First, are schools going back to requiring applicants to submit standardized test scores? Some are, especially in the most elite category, says Alvin: “This shift is evident among several Ivy League and other leading universities.”
So if you’re applying to places like Dartmouth, Harvard or MIT, you’ll be expected to send in scores. Princeton, for instance, just announced it’ll once again require test scores, starting with the 2027-28 admissions cycle. And while many more schools are test-optional, with major institutions re-imposing tests – such as the University of Miami and the University of Texas at Austin – it can be worth taking a test at least once so as not to shut out opportunities.
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That takes us to which test your applicant should take. Step one, says Alvin, is to research individual institutions to see whether they require the SAT or ACT or whether the student is free to choose.
“The SAT and ACT have distinct structures and question types, and some students may naturally find one format more suitable for their abilities,” he says. “Taking practice tests for both exams is highly recommended to assess which one is a better fit. It’s common for students to perform significantly better on one exam even if they struggle with the other.”
I’m simplifying, but the SAT tends to be more analytical and the ACT tends to be more focused on direct questions that test knowledge of a given subject. Additionally, the SAT is digital only while ACT-takers can pick between digital and paper. (For what it’s worth, my wife and I got a professional assessment to determine which test our applicant should take.)
The PSAT can serve as practice for the SAT. There are also many online options for getting familiar with the SAT or ACT – and familiarity with the test structure can be crucial to performing well. Whichever one you kid chooses, it’s important they don’t cram for the exam. Instead, they should take timed tests over the course of weeks to get used to it.
Once your child has taken a test, when does it make sense to submit their scores at test-optional schools? I’m sorry to report that there will be math involved in this answer. You’ll need to go look at each school’s median scores for the most recent admitted class, which is typically public. You can use our U.S. News widget here.
“Generally, scores at or above the school’s average range, or at the 50th percentile or higher, are beneficial to submit,” according to Alvin. “However, if scores are significantly below this range, it’s usually best to withhold them unless there’s a specific strategic reason, such as submitting balanced scores for a specialized program like engineering.”
So to recap: Have your applicant figure out whether their target schools require a standardized test score; figure out which one they’re best suited to; do regular timed practice tests; then map their score on the school’s data for the most recent admitted class. Are they at the 50% mark or above? Submit.
Olivier Knox is the son of college professors and worked in admissions as a student at his dream school. He has a 100% success rate guiding the next generation of applicants into their first-choice colleges (sample size: one son). Reach Olivier at oknox@usnews.com.
