While test-optional admissions won’t continue forever, it has made a significant impact on the college landscape, as a number of schools are continuing these new policies indefinitely. These schools claim that not submitting test scores won’t hurt your chances of admission, but does the data bear that out?
In this article, we’re going to look at data from a number of top universities, to see how many students who were admitted submitted the SAT or ACT. From this data, we will see what conclusions we can draw, and what this information means for you. Let’s get started!
Who Submitted Their Test Scores
All of this data comes from the Common Data Set. It is from the past admissions cycle, 2023-2024. For more information on what the Common Data Set is, see our article here.
| University | % of admitted student Submitting SAT | % of admitted students Submitting ACT |
| Boston College | 28% | 16% |
| Boston University | 28% | 10% |
| Brandeis | 31% | 12% |
| Brown | 54% | 22% |
| Carnegie Mellon | 51% | 17% |
| Case Western Reserve | 43% | 23% |
| Columbia | 40% | 22% |
| Cornell | 37% | 12% |
| Dartmouth | 43% | 24% |
| Duke | 47% | 30% |
| Emory | 42% | 19% |
| Georgetown | 75% | 34% |
| Georgia Tech | 77% | 35% |
| Harvard | 52% | 22% |
| Johns Hopkins | 41% | 14% |
| MIT | 83% | 31% |
| NYU | 27% | 12% |
| Notre Dame | 29% | 29% |
| Northeastern | 27% | 8% |
| Northwestern | 50% | 29% |
| Princeton | 57% | 20% |
| Purdue | 73% | 24% |
| Rice | 50% | 22% |
| Rutgers | 51% | 5% |
| SMU | 17% | 15% |
| Stanford | 47% | 22% |
| Texas A&M | 78% | 22% |
| UT Austin | 83% | 28% |
| Tufts | 36% | 18% |
| Tulane | 14% | 31% |
| UChicago | 46% | 30% |
| University of Florida | 79% | 41% |
| UIUC | 40% | 16% |
| University of Michigan | 52% | 18% |
| UNC Chapel Hill | 21% | 32% |
| UPenn | 51% | 19% |
| University of Rochester | 26% | 10% |
| USC | 32% | 14% |
| UVA | 50% | 16% |
| University of Washington | 14% | 5% |
| Vanderbilt | 25% | 26% |
| Wake Forest | 26% | 22% |
| WashU | 29% | 28% |
| William & Mary | 45% | 17% |
| Yale | 56% | 26% |
Note that schools which do not accept standardized test scores at all, notably the entire UC system, are not included on this table. Note also that these percentages refer to admitted students only, not the overall rates at which students apply with scores from either test.
Do Schools Prefer You Submit Test Scores?
So what does all this data tell us? That’s a confusing picture, as not every school has the same priorities. There are a few trends we can see though, especially among the most competitive schools. In general, these schools admit a higher percentage of applicants who submitted test scores (any test scores) than those who applied without them.
This seems counter to the point of having test optional admissions, but does make a degree of sense. Colleges only know what you tell them, and must evaluate your application based on the data available. More data provided allows them to create a fuller picture of you, and better determine if you are a good fit for their school.
Thus while they may not actively prefer students who submit test scores, those who do are more likely to be seen as academically prepared for the coursework they will be doing at the college. Of course, there is also the possibility that these schools prefer students who submit test scores, even if they do not require them. Some schools state this explicitly, with policies like “test preferred,” but others simply imply it.
Finally, this is clearly not the case for every school mentioned above; many of them obviously admit more students who don’t submit scores than those who do. That said, we do still suggest to all our students that they take standardized tests, and submit their scores if they are within the range for that school.
Do Colleges Actually Prefer the SAT?
The other thing that seems evident, looking at the table above, is that far more students, in general, are admitted who submitted the SAT than the ACT. This is interesting for a number of reasons, the most important being whether or not this shows colleges favoring applicants who submit SAT scores over those who submit ACT scores.
Colleges say, explicitly and universally, that they do not have a preference for students who submit the SAT or ACT, and that both tests are viewed and judged equally. In the table above, however, it becomes glaringly obvious that most colleges admit significantly more students who submit SAT scores than ACT scores.
Now, the SAT is slightly more popular than the ACT, with 1.9 million students taking the SAT and only 1.4 million taking the ACT in 2023. There is some overlap of course, as some students took both tests. The tests also have regional appeal, with some being more popular in certain areas of the country. None of this explains the massive gaps we see in uptake rate however.
The minor popularity edge the SAT has does explain some of the difference, but certainly not all of it. Nor do regional variances in popularity; top schools actively seek to admit students from all over the country, so regional variances in the popularity of one test or another shouldn’t matter for most of these schools.
Now, whether or not these colleges actually prefer students who submit the SAT is difficult to say for sure, but the data trends certainly seem to suggest that they do. We cannot verify this, as colleges are notoriously reticent about revealing anything about the inner workings of their admissions office. Even the latest revelations from the Harvard lawsuit disclosed nothing about a test preference.
What Does This Mean for You?
When you are deciding which test to take, there are numerous important considerations. The most important, by far, is which one you can score best on; a higher score will always be better for you, regardless of which test you take.
Next, you should always take a standardized test if you can, and should submit the scores if they are within the target range for a university, even if that school is test optional. While not all schools prefer students who submit scores, most do (even if they claim not to). Taking these tests will never hurt you, beyond the moderate discomfort that always comes with preparing for and taking exceptionally long exams.
While you should generally prioritize whichever test gives you the best chance of performing well, if you are equally adept at both, this data suggests you should focus on the SAT. While colleges claim to not advantage one of these tests over the other, they have been known to be less than entirely honest when stating their preferences before.
If you do have the choice on which test to focus on, we recommend prioritizing the SAT. The data suggests this is the test top colleges prefer to see from students, though the reason why remains uncertain.
Final Thoughts
Standardized tests are only one of many metrics used by colleges to evaluate applicants, but they are an important one. Their universal usage and standardized nature makes them a useful barometer by which to judge students who have attended very different high schools and who have very different backgrounds. They are hardly the only point of comparison, but as the data shows, colleges do value them, and tend to slightly prefer students who have submitted these scores.
We hope this article has given you insight into how and why colleges make the decisions that they do. If you are looking for more insight into how colleges evaluate applicants and applications, or you want help preparing for your own standardized tests, schedule a free consultation with us today. We have a deep knowledge of every aspect of college admissions, and are always happy to hear from you.
