SAT/ACT Required? Top Colleges' Policies for 2026–27

Which Top Colleges Require the SAT or ACT for 2026–27? The Official Policy at 33 Colleges

For fall 2027 entry, the Ivies other than Princeton and Columbia, plus Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and several flagships, require the SAT or ACT. Princeton, Columbia, Duke, Northwestern, UChicago and others are test-optional. UCLA ignores scores.

Some of those policies change for the next class, so the year matters. The table below quotes each college's own admissions page, with the cycle that page names. Every page was checked on September 24, 2026. If a college you care about is not listed, its page either blocked access or did not state a policy, and we left it out rather than guess.

The Three Policies, Defined

The College Board, which makes the SAT, defines the terms on its BigFuture site (which, when we re-checked on September 24, 2026, asked for a College Board login before showing the page):

• Test-optional: "most applicants can choose whether to submit their SAT or ACT scores." If you choose not to submit, "it won't be counted against you in the application review."
• Test flexible: "you may be able to take a test other than the SAT or ACT, such as AP Exams, to meet the school's requirements for admission."
• Test blind: "the college won't look at test scores for admission even if they are submitted."

"Required" means what it says. The details are in each college's wording: who is exempt, which tests count, and whether a waiver exists.

The Table: SAT/ACT Policy for Fall 2027 Entry

"Cycle named on page" is the year or class the page itself names. "Standing policy" means the page states the rule without naming a year. In the colleges below we found no page that still described an earlier cycle as the current one. The pages that name no year at all are the ones to confirm again before your child submits.

Required

Required, With a Waiver or Condition

Test-Optional

Test-Blind

Four colleges we tried are not in the table. The University of Michigan's pages that loaded did not state a policy. UVA, NYU and Williams blocked automated access or returned errors. Check those on their own sites.

Policies That Change After This Year

If your child has a younger sibling, or if you are reading this for a junior, note that four test-optional colleges have already announced they will require tests again:

Among the colleges on this page, every announced change runs toward requiring tests. The College Board's own page warns that "colleges that were test optional last year may be going back to requiring tests."

Submit or Not: A Decision Procedure for Test-Optional Colleges

At a required college there is nothing to decide: send a score. At a test-optional college, your child chooses, and the choice can differ college by college. Run this in order:

1. Confirm the policy on the college's page this month. Use the table above as a starting point, not the final word. BigFuture advises checking "back in the fall before you apply," because some colleges change policy over the summer.
2. Find the college's published score range, and read it carefully. Colleges publish a middle-50% range for enrolled students who submitted scores. That range describes only the students who chose to submit. Stanford's page shows this clearly: for the Class of 2029, when scores "were optional," the middle 50% of SAT submitters "scored between 1520 and 1570."
3. Compare your child's score to that range. The College Board, which makes the SAT, advises: "If your score is comparable or higher, you should send it." Below the range, ask whether the score adds anything the transcript does not.
4. Look for a stated rule about how scores are used. UChicago publishes one: "Any SAT or ACT score submitted will only be used in review if it will positively affect an applicant's chance of admission." Most colleges publish no such rule. Where none exists, do not assume one.
5. Check how scores must be sent. Many colleges accept self-reported scores. USC does not.
6. Mind the test calendar for early rounds. Princeton, for example, says applicants who submit "should take the SAT or the ACT by the October test date for single-choice early action and the December date for regular decision."
7. Decide per college, then write it down. One line per college: required / optional-sending / optional-not-sending / blind. This prevents a missed score report in November.

Your role as a parent is logistics: registration, fees, score reports and deadlines. Whether to submit is a judgment your child should make with their counselor, using the college's own numbers.

What Test Policy Does Not Change

A test score, submitted or not, is one piece of a file. At a test-optional college, not sending a score shifts more weight onto everything else: the transcript, the recommendations and the writing. Admission to highly selective colleges is uncertain with a top score or without one. No test decision guarantees an outcome.

That is why the writing matters most in the fall. The test dates are mostly behind your child by then, and the essays are not. The 2026–27 Common App essay prompts are the starting point. The guide to what each supplemental essay type asks covers the college-specific writing, and what 185 colleges told NACAC about the essay puts its weight in context. When your child has a draft, they (not you) can run it through GradPilot's free college essay review against the Common App narrative-craft rubric, and you can read the feedback together. The review gives qualitative notes on the draft. It does not predict admission, and it does not write or edit the essay.

If you are also planning the early round, see restrictive early action rules at Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford and the 2026–27 early decision and early action notification dates. For the size of the list itself, see how many colleges your child should apply to.

FAQ

Which Ivy League schools require the SAT or ACT for fall 2027?

Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell and Penn require scores. Penn offers a hardship waiver, and Harvard accepts other exams "in exceptional cases." Princeton and Columbia are test-optional for fall 2027 entry, and both have announced that testing will be required again for fall 2028 entry.

Is Stanford test-optional for 2026–27?

No. Stanford's testing page says "ACT or SAT scores are required." Its page notes that scores "were optional for the Class of 2029," which is why older articles say otherwise.

Does test-optional really mean no disadvantage?

It means what each college says. Swarthmore says applicants "will not be penalized" for not submitting. UChicago says submitted scores are used only if they help. Many colleges state only that scores are optional. The College Board's general definition is that not submitting "won't be counted against you."

What is the difference between test-optional and test-blind?

Test-optional colleges consider scores your child chooses to send. A test-blind college will not look at scores for admission even if they are sent. UCLA "will not consider SAT or ACT scores for admission or scholarship purposes."

Should my child still take the SAT or ACT if every college on the list is optional?

The College Board, which makes the SAT, says yes and gives its reasons on BigFuture. Its advice is not neutral, so decide on practical grounds. A score keeps required colleges open if the list changes, and several optional colleges will require scores for the next class. If your child tests, they can still choose not to send the score.

Sources

All pages retrieved September 24, 2026.

• Harvard College: application requirements
• Yale Admissions: standardized testing
• Stanford Admission: standardized testing
• MIT Admissions: tests and scores
• Caltech Admissions: standardized tests
• Brown Admission: standardized tests
• Dartmouth Admissions: testing policy
• Cornell Admissions: standardized testing policy
• Johns Hopkins Admissions: deadlines and requirements
• Georgetown Admissions: high school credits and tests FAQ
• Georgia Tech Admission: standardized tests
• University of Florida Admissions: freshman requirements
• UT Austin Admissions: freshman
• Penn Admissions: testing
• UNC Admissions: how UNC looks at ACT or SAT scores
• Purdue Admissions: guide to becoming a student
• Carnegie Mellon Admission: standardized testing
• Princeton Admission: application checklist
• Columbia Undergraduate Admissions: testing
• Duke Admissions: apply
• Vanderbilt Admissions: testing policies
• Notre Dame Admissions: apply
• Emory Admission: exams
• Northwestern Admissions: standardized testing policy FAQ
• UChicago Admissions: required materials (No Harm testing policy)
• Rice Admission: first-year domestic applicants
• WashU Admissions: first-year U.S. applicants
• USC Admission: first-year students
• Boston College Admission: test-optional policy
• Tufts Admissions: SAT and ACT tests
• Amherst Admission: testing
• Swarthmore Admissions: standardized testing policy
• UCLA Admission: first-year requirements
• College Board BigFuture: What is test optional?