Yes. And no.

You might think, from all the hype, that all the colleges that went test-optional during covid have gone back to requiring the SAT or ACT for admissions.

Yes.

It’s true that many Ivies (Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale; Cornell for 2026) and highly selective schools (MIT, Cal Tech, Georgetown) have announced they’re requiring testing. Some state university systems (Florida, Georgia) also require them. Check out this blog from College Board’s Big Future for an up-to-date list of those schools where you’ll have to submit the ACT or SAT. This lists 35 public and 19 private colleges that now require or will require testing.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/plan-for-college/find-your-fit/what-colleges-require-SAT

Add University of the Miami to that list. They just announced required testing for the class entering in fall 2026.

And no.

Still, about 90% of four-year institutions of higher education are either test blind or test optional. (The percentage varies depending on your source, but the overwhelming majority of schools do not require test scores.)

Test blind, test optional, test flexible

Test-blind schools, like the University of California and California State colleges, will not look at your test scores even if you want them to. Test-optional schools leave it up to you to decide whether or not to submit the scores you have. Lately, some schools introduced the term “test flexible,” meaning you can choose testing beyond the ACT or SAT (think AP) to submit.

Test-optional policies contributed to a significant rise in application numbers, especially to highly selective schools. Students who would have self-selected themselves out of consideration because their scores weren’t up to par for that school saw they had a chance because their GPA was strong. (The average GPA in the U.S. is an A-.) With increased numbers of applications, the already dismal admit rates dropped.

The bottom line

Take the SAT or ACT. You might even want to study and retake the test to improve your scores. But do not spend all of your time trying to stick a certain number. There are plenty of schools that will evaluate your application without a test score. Whether the school requires a test score or not, the rigor of your curriculum and the grades you earn in school are almost always considered “very important” (Common Data Set vocabulary) to admissions.