‘Test blind’, ‘test optional’ or ‘test preferred’ – what do all these categories mean?

Covid is already a distant memory, thankfully. However, its impact is still being felt in an important corner of the college-counselling world: the standardised-test requirements of US universities.

Gone are the good(?) old days when all universities required tests – no questions asked – and sitting for the SAT was a natural and begrudgingly accepted rite of passage for all college-bound high-school students. 

With the pandemic, most aspects of life ceased to be – including standardised testing. Universities had to make decisions on who to admit without the familiar benchmark of the SAT or the ACT. 

Now with the pandemic tucked into the recesses of our memory, universities – especially selective ones – are bringing the test back, to much student chagrin and counsellor concern. Much ink has been spilled on which decision leads to a more equitable admissions landscape, but that is beyond the scope of this article. 

The focus of the article is how varied this landscape is, as universities create a new framework of expectations with every admissions cycle. This complicates the decision-making of students and the job of counsellors. 

Which test is required where, and by whom

I created a spectrum of test requirements to reflect on for myself, and have shared it here in the hope that maybe it can help you too. 

The spectrum is organised in terms of the extent to which the standardised test is required in the application. On one end of the spectrum lies “test required” (“Just do it”), and on the other “test-blind/test-free” (“Let’s pretend it doesn’t exist”). 

In the middle lies a colourful diversity. Keep in mind that because there are multiple schools that have come up with their own terminology, some schools are the only representative members in that category (for example, Yale is “test flexible”; Purdue is “test expected”), while other categories (such as “test optional”) can get crowded.

Let’s take a closer look. 

Spectrum of standardised test requirements 

Terminology: Test required

Definition: Applicants are required to submit SAT and ACT scores as part of their application. 

Implication: But is the test really required? As expected from the terminology, some schools are hardliners (MIT and Georgia Tech). However, for some schools in this camp, exceptions can be made depending on geographical location (Dartmouth) or on a case-by-case basis involving extraordinary circumstances (Harvard). 

Representative schools: 

• MIT (testing requirement), Georgia Tech (standardised tests): SAT or ACT scores are required
• Harvard (application requirements): SAT or ACT are required, unless in exceptional cases, in which case they will accept: predicted grades from A levels or IB; AP exam results; or results from a standardised national exam. What counts as “exceptional cases”? From the Harvard website: “Exceptional cases typically involve a student facing challenges in paying for or accessing a test site or a student being unable to secure an available seat at a test site prior to the Regular Decision deadline.”
• Dartmouth (testing policy): If you’re in the US, only SAT or ACT are valid. If you are outside the US, they take predicted grades from the IB or A levels, three APs, or the final results from a standardised national exam. So, in actuality, Dartmouth belongs to the next camp: “test flexible” – possibly even more so than the university that formally puts itself in that category. 

Terminology: Test flexible

Definition: Applicants are required to submit test scores, but they can choose which ones. Choose between: SAT, ACT, IB results, AP results. 

Implication: From my research, Yale is the only school with the official designation of test flexible (please feel free to correct me if I am wrong). However, it is not as flexible as you’d think, showing the disconnect between the terminologies used by universities and the reality of their policies. Let’s take a closer look at their testing.

Representative school:

• Yale (standardised testing): Yale says it’s flexible, by allowing students to submit two types of alternative exam scores instead of the SAT or ACT. However, for those who opt to submit AP or IB, they require “results from all subject exams completed prior to applying”. This does make it flexible for AP students, who can take exams in their penultimate year of high school, but not as flexible for IB students, who sit their exams at the end of the academic year, well after they have applied.

Terminology: Test expected

Definition: Applicants are expected to submit SAT or ACT scores.

Implication: As with Yale, Purdue is the trailblazer in this category (ie, a school that came up with its own framework this year). 

Representative school: 

• Purdue (freshmen admission criteria; 2024 counsellor update): Applicants are expected to submit SAT and ACT scores. The assumption is that they would be disadvantaged if they chose not to. However, the caveat is as follows: “In some exceptional cases, applicants may not have been able to take a test. We allow submission of applications in those cases via the Common App.” Should Harvard actually belong in this category, then? Or should Purdue be moved to the “Test required” camp? Or should they form a new category: “Test required unless in exceptional cases”? You decide. 

Terminology: Test preferred

Definition: Applicants are recommended to submit SAT or ACT scores. 

Implication: Auburn is the only school in this category. Funnily, the heading of its test-policy webpage does say “test optional”, but the statement reads: “Auburn University is a test-preferred institution.” It can’t be placed in the test-optional camp, because choosing to submit a test score or not presumably would impact on the chances of admission. And to complicate things further, under the “Standardised-testing policy“ heading of the general prospective-students page, it says: “Auburn University extended the test-flexible option.”  

Representative school: 

• Auburn (test policy): If you want to maximise your chances for scholarships, SAT and ACT seem a must: “Providing a test score helps us place you in the right courses and maximises your opportunity for scholarships at Auburn University.” Whether it improves your admission chances or not is left purposefully vague. The website states: “In some cases, it also could improve your ability to gain admission.”

Terminology: Test optional 

Definition: Applicants can choose whether or not to submit test scores. Their decision should have no impact on their application. 

Implication: Keep in mind that many schools here may move to any of the aforementioned categories in the upcoming cycle. Also, the schools here are officially categorised as “test optional” based on their own websites’ descriptions. However, a closer look at their policies often suggests that they might fit better into another category on this spectrum.

Representative schools: 

• Amherst (standardised-testing policy): It is pretty straightforward for Amherst: “Standardised testing (either SAT or ACT) is an optional part of our admission application for…first-year applicants.”
• Union (test policy): Union says it is test-optional. But look closer and its policy appears to be closer to Auburn’s test-preferred version: “SAT/ACT optional but recommended for: international students.” Unless you are applying for leadership in medicine or the 3+3 accelerated law programme, or you’ve been homeschooled, then a test is required.
• NYU (standardised tests): NYU is test-optional for this application cycle, which may change in the future. It claims to have one of the “most flexible testing policies of any college or university”. How flexible is this? “When completing the Common App, you will be able to select whether you wish to submit standardised testing, and if so, which form of testing you plan to submit. If you choose to submit standardised testing, you only need to submit one form of testing.” The forms of testing accepted are similar to Dartmouth (predicted grades from the IB or A levels, three APs, or final results from a standardised national exam) – except that Union does accept predicted results from standardised national exams as well. Truly flexible indeed – perhaps they should be moved to the “test flexible” category, in lieu of Yale. 

Terminology: Test blind or test-free

Definition: Applicants cannot submit a test score. Testing results will not be required, nor used in admissions. 

Implication: If you have a great SAT or ACT score, take it elsewhere. University of California is a notable example in this category. 

Representative school: 

• University of California (First-year requirements): The official line reads: “UC no longer considers SAT or ACT test scores when making admissions decisions or awarding scholarships.” You can submit test scores, but only for an “alternate method of fulfilling minimum requirements for eligibility or for course placement after matriculation at UC”. When UC made this decision four years ago, it announced this alongside the news that it may release its own version of a college-readiness test starting in 2025 (UC update). So we will have to wait and see. 
• Reed College (How to apply): The reason Reed is test blind is that it “doesn’t believe in ivory towers”, which makes its perception of standardised-test scores very clear. From its website: “Reed will neither require nor use testing results from the SAT or ACT in our admission review.” 
• Other schools (subject to change: please use at your own discretion).