While the vast majority of institutions in our coverage universe offer some form of test-optional admissions, some have completely eliminated standardized testing from consideration—even if you submit scores.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of schools offering test-blind/score-free admissions for the 2024-25 cycle. For your convenience, we've included admit rates and links to each school's standardized test policy details to help you find suitable candidates for your college list.

College Kickstart subscribers, this is automatically updated and visible as part of the requirements view.

Dartmouth College announced today that the submission of standardized test scores will be required for a student's application for admission.      

Click here for the news release.

While the vast majority of institutions in our coverage universe offer some form of test-optional admissions, some have completely eliminated standardized testing from consideration—even if you submit scores.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of schools offering test-blind/score-free admissions for the 2023-24 cycle. For your convenience, we've included admit rates, test score ranges and links to each school's standardized test policy details to help you find suitable candidates for your college list.

College Kickstart subscribers, this is automatically updated and visible as part of the requirements view.

While the vast majority of institutions in our coverage universe offer some form of test-optional admissions, some have completely eliminated standardized testing from consideration—even if you submit scores.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of schools offering test-blind/score-free admissions for the 2022-23 cycle. For your convenience, we've included admit rates, test score ranges and links to each school's standardized test policy details to help you find suitable candidates for your college list.

College Kickstart subscribers, this is automatically updated and visible as part of the requirements view.

While the vast majority of institutions in our coverage universe offer some form of test-optional admissions, some have completely eliminated standardized testing from consideration—even if you submit scores.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of schools offering test-blind/test-free admissions for the 2021-22 cycle. For your convenience, we've included admit rates, test score ranges and links to each school's standardized test policy details to help you find suitable candidates for your college list.

College Kickstart subscribers, this is automatically updated and visible as part of the requirements view.

As we entered 2020, roughly one-third of the schools in our coverage universe offered some form of test-optional admissions. That figure cleared 70 percent in June and is now hovering at 90 percent with the holdouts largely in the South, particularly the public universities in Flordia and Georgia.

To help you keep up with the changes, we're actively tracking test-optional policies for several popular institutions we cover. As always, the definition of "test-optional" varies by institution and often has strings attached so pay close attention to the details.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of test-optional schools and the type of test-optional policy they employ.  For your convenience, we've included admit rates, test score ranges and links to each school's standardized test policy to help you find suitable candidates for your college list.

College Kickstart subscribers, this is automatically updated and visible as part of the requirements view.

We continue to look for ways to help you better manage the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19. In the past two months we've added several new capabilities, including:

• Active tracking of test-optional institutions
• Links to virtual visit programming for each of the schools we cover
• A recommendation engine to help you capitalize on test-optional admissions

Today we're introducing a fourth capability: the option to run College Kickstart without a standardized test score.

Available immediately to all College Kickstart subscribers, this feature gives you the flexibility to assess academic performance based solely on GPA and class rank whenever possible. 

Click Continue Reading below to learn more.

Colby College announced today that the submission of standardized test scores is now an optional element of a student's application for admission.      

Click here for the news release.

Brown will no longer require the essay component to the SAT and ACT.  

This is one of several initiatives taken by the institution to expand access to low income families.

For applicants planning not to take the SAT/ACT essay, inclusion of a graded paper from a humanities or social science class is recommended.

Click here for the article.

A new release of College Kickstart is now available!

This release features:

• An SAT score converter to help you reconcile new and old SAT scores  
• Resident and non-resident admission rates for situations where the difference materially impacts how a school is categorized in College Kickstart
• An updated affordability panel with graduation rates
• Expanded school coverage

Click on Continue Reading for the scoop. 

Concordance tables are now available from the College Board to help you reconcile your new SAT results from March to all of the college admission data that uses the old SAT format.

Click here for the tables or here for the College Board conversion tool.

Confused about your new PSAT scores?  You're not alone.  Here are three articles we think can help you get a better handle on it all:

• An article from the College Board comparing the old and new PSAT formats
• An article from the Washington Post that explains what you need to know in simple, straightforward terms.
• An alternative article from examiner.com and Compass Education Group  

The shift to test-optional admission continues to build.  This article from the New York Times highlights several reasons for the shift and reviews the results from several studies, often conflicting, on its impact.  Some suggestions for when to consider applying test optional are also made.

Click here for the article.

New SAT, current SAT or ACT—which one is for me?

Here's a 30 question diagnostic developed by Dr. Gary Gruber that can help you determine which may be best for you.   

Click here for the article.

For those of you wondering about the new SAT, here's an excellent article from Jed Applerouth that details the differences between the current and new formats, as well as the ACT.  

Read the article here.