[NOTE: as stated below, Information in this post is accurate as of the date of writing: 7/6/21. For the most up-to-date admissions information, please check the websites of the colleges you wish to apply to!]
It’s been quite a year and a half! After the craziest 2020 ever—and a still-crazy beginning of 2021—our world (here in the U.S., anyway) is starting to open back up. Many of us are vaccinated, starting to see friends and family, and resuming some semblance of normal activity again. If you didn’t already attend school in person over the past few months, you’ll almost certainly be doing so in the next academic year!
And if you specifically just wrapped up your Sophomore year of high school and are now a “rising Junior,” you might have a VERY particular question looming over your head:
Is Taking the SAT or ACT Necessary for the Classes of 2023 and 2024?
Turns out it’s a pretty complicated question. Good thing you’ve got a test-prep expert with a decade’s worth of experience (yours truly) to help you untangle it.
If you’re a rising Junior (class of 2023), you probably saw your Junior and Senior friends pretty much get away with throwing out their SAT and ACT test prep books.
So you may be wondering if you, too, can just ditch this high school rite of passage. I mean, THEY did, right?
And hey, even before Coronavirus upended all our lives for almost a year and a half, weren’t there more and more schools that were starting to accept applications even without standardized test scores? I mean, year after year, the trend has tended to be that fewer and fewer schools require the SAT or ACT essay, and the College Board recently discontinued the SAT essay AND SAT II Subject Tests! Doesn’t that all mean that tests are just kind of…going away?
Here’s the thing: as of this writing (7/6/21), YES, there appear to be approximately 1,540 accredited higher educational institutions (according to fairtest.org) in the United States that are Test Optional or Test Blind (aka “Test Free”)…or at least they were for your Senior and Junior friends. However, ALSO as of this writing, over 410 of these colleges were merely being lenient to the classes of 2021 and 2022 because of COVID-19 shutdowns over the past year and a half.
How Many Colleges Are Going to Require Standardized Testing for Rising Juniors?
So that you don’t have to add any more stress to your plate, I’ve done the tedious work for you of tallying up the college campuses that had different temporary pandemic admissions policies, according to fairtest.org, have and categorized them according to what their policies mean for the classes of 2023 and 2024:
84: number of colleges/universities that are temporarily still Test Optional for the class of 2023, but will likely NOT be for the class of 2024. This number includes the 21 campuses in the Penn State University system.
375: number of colleges and universities that were ONLY Test Optional for the class of 2021 and/or 2022, but are NOT test optional for the class of 2023 and beyond.
17: number of college campuses that did a “two-year pilot”—meaning that they were Test Optional for the classes of 2021 and 2022, but will now need to reassess if they desire to go back to normal or stay Test Optional for the class of 2023 and beyond.
44: number of college campuses that were Test Blind/Test Free for the class of 2021 and/or 2022, but that will NOT be Test Blind for the class of 2023. This includes the 23 campuses in the California State University system and the 11 campuses of the City University of New York (CUNY) system.
So, that’s roughly 419 schools that are going back to their former pre-Covid testing requirements, with another possible 17 that will be deciding soon.
So, Should the Class of 2023 Take the SAT or ACT?
What does this mean for YOU, a soon-to-be Junior who ALSO endured severe disruptions to your education? It means that unless we see a big reversal in our pandemic recovery that causes these colleges to change their minds, these 410+ institutions still expect YOU to submit a test score when you apply.
Not to mention, there are hundreds and hundreds of colleges who did NOT become Test Optional or Test Blind, not even during the pandemic, and not even for the classes of 2021 and 2022. So these, too, will expect you to take the SAT or ACT and submit a score.
So, if ALL of the colleges you’re thinking about are Test Optional or Test Blind/Test Free…AND you have a killer application that doesn’t even need a test score to validate it, AND you don’t care about financial aid or scholarships, then maybe you can consider skipping. However, for most students, that’s simply not the case—and if you’re part of that majority, you need to plan for the likelihood that you will need to submit standardized test scores as part of your college application packages.
Will the SAT or ACT be Canceled for the Class of 2023?
I’m so glad you asked! Here’s the rub: since the College Board and ACT have figured out how to administer their tests in socially-distant and safe ways, and since the world is opening up again and more and more people are getting vaccinated, you don’t really have the excuse your older high school friends did.
Yes, this might mean that there might not be as many spots in a testing center as there used to be pre-coronavirus, and that those spots might therefore fill up quickly, or even that a testing center may have to unexpectedly close at a moment’s notice (thought this is happening less often now than it was a year ago…and I’m willing to bet that the number of testing center closures will continue to decrease over time).
But if you plan ahead, then all this becomes a moot point. You’ll be the person who DID nab the seat and who has multiple backup test dates if one of yours gets cancelled, because you’re starting the process on time instead of waiting until the last minute and cramming.
My Best Advice on the ACT or SAT for the class of 2023
For the class of 2023 and beyond, expect that you WILL have to take either the SAT or ACT for your college admissions.
Yes, as always, you will need to see which schools you wish to apply to and check out their specific admissions processes and requirements at the time you apply. There are several colleges and universities that have always been test optional, and a few will still be Test Optional or Test Blind/Test Free for your year due to the pandemic. But unless you’re 100% certain that—a YEAR from now—you are ONLY applying to Test Blind / Test Free colleges, you need to take the SAT or ACT. Why? Because you either will be REQUIRED to submit a test score with your application, or you can at least BENEFIT from submitting a stellar SAT or ACT test score (because Test Optional schools still look at and consider the scores you give them).
And if this “decision” means you ultimately end up doing more work (prepping and taking a test that, A YEAR FROM NOW, you realize you didn’t need to take), well…frankly, so what? When did learning reading comprehension, proper grammar and editing skills, basic math, and data interpretation skills ever hurt anyone? NEVER, that’s when.
SO MY BEST ADVICE TO YOU AS YOU NAVIGATE STANDARDIZED TESTING, CLASS OF 2023, IS THIS: TAKE THE TEST.
You might be one of the few who ultimately didn’t need to submit an SAT or ACT score in the end, but in all likelihood, your year is going to look pretty similar to pre-pandemic “normal.” So pick your test, pick your Testing Timeline, and funnel any doubts and anxious energy into doing something that will actually get you into college—getting a stellar SAT or ACT score!
And if you need help doing this in the most streamlined way possible—to raise your score the most possible points in the least possible time and with the least headache possible—consider working with me.
