NPR reported on May 4 that more college applicants are choosing to submit SAT or ACT scores this cycle, even though only about 5 percent of colleges in the Common App program currently require them. Common App data showed roughly a 10 percent increase in students reporting scores compared with the prior year. Several flagship institutions, including Dartmouth, Stanford, Princeton, and Penn, have reinstated testing requirements.
Families want to know what to make of the shift. Our advice at Novella Prep has not changed in spirit, but the tactics matter more than ever.
Why SAT and ACT Scores Are Back in the Admissions Conversation
The pendulum swung to test-optional during the pandemic for good reasons. Testing infrastructure broke down, equity concerns intensified, and the data initially suggested that admissions could function without scores.
Sackett et al. (2009) and Westrick et al. (2015) had already established that SAT and ACT scores predict first-year college performance above and beyond high school grades, but many institutions made a strategic bet that the cost in optics outweighed the marginal predictive value. The bet has not aged uniformly.
Bruce Sacerdote, the Dartmouth economist quoted in the NPR piece, argued that grade inflation has eroded the signal in transcripts, leaving admissions officers without a way to distinguish among applicants whose GPAs cluster at the ceiling. This issue is less relevant in AP courses, where the summative test ensures no grade inflation can exist without negative repercussions.
Do SAT and ACT Scores Still Matter in College Admissions?
Allensworth and Clark (2020) reinforced that concern in a national study showing that the predictive value of GPA varies sharply by school context, while standardized scores offer a more uniform metric across high schools.
Zachary Bleemer, also quoted in the article, countered that admissions officers can usually infer scores accurately from the rest of the application; in his view, scores add only marginal information.
Both views can be true. Scores add information at the margin, and the margin is exactly where competitive admissions decisions get made.
How Families Should Decide Whether to Submit SAT or ACT Scores
For families, the practical question is whether to submit. Our framework starts with three checks.
1. Compare the Student’s Score to Each College’s Middle 50 Percent Range
First, compare the student’s score to the middle 50 percent published by each prospective college. A score at or above the 50th percentile generally helps. A score below the 25th percentile typically hurts more than it helps unless the student belongs to a specifically recruited cohort.
2. Consider the Strength of the Full Application
Second, weigh the rest of the application. A student with a strong upward grade trajectory, demanding course load, and authentic narrative may not need a marginal score. A student whose academic record has soft spots benefits more from a clarifying number.
3. Pay Attention to Each College’s Testing Signals
Third, factor in institutional signals. Schools that have publicly reinstated requirements or whose deans have praised testing in admissions cycles are sending a clear message about how scores are weighed in practice.
When Should Students Start Preparing for the SAT or ACT?
We also urge families to plan for testing earlier than they expect.
Geiser and Studley (2003) demonstrated that early, structured preparation produces meaningful and durable score gains; cramming a month before the test rarely matches that effect. Building practice into the sophomore and early junior year reduces stress, allows multiple test administrations, and leaves room for accommodations applications when needed.
Students who qualify for extra-time accommodations especially benefit from early authentic practice under accommodated conditions, which lowers anxiety on test day and produces a truer measure of ability.
How Test-Optional Policies Affect Equity and Access
A note on equity: Dynarski, Nurshatayeva, Page, and Scott-Clayton (2022) reanalyzed admissions data and found that test-optional policies modestly increased application volume from underrepresented students but did not consistently improve enrollment or persistence.
The conversation about access is bigger than scores, and it should remain centered on counseling capacity, financial aid, and pipeline programs. The shift back to testing requirements at a handful of selective institutions does not undo that broader work, but families should not interpret the return of scores as a return to the pre-pandemic landscape.
The Practical Takeaway for Families
What is the working takeaway for our families? Treat testing as an option to be optimized, not a referendum on a student’s worth.
A thoughtful score, paired with a strong transcript and a coherent application narrative, expands a student’s choices. A score that does not represent the student should not be submitted.
Above all, build the executive functioning to manage the prep itself: a calendar, a study plan, and a feedback loop. The students who score well over time are usually the ones who have learned to study well in the first place.
Final Advice on SAT, ACT, and Test-Optional Admissions
The NPR piece reminded us of an underrated truth: in admissions, signals matter, and the strongest applications send several at once.
Test scores are returning to that signal mix for many families, and the families who plan early will navigate the shift with the least stress and the most leverage.
References
Allensworth, E. M., & Clark, K. (2020). High school GPAs and ACT scores as predictors of college completion: Examining assumptions about consistency across high schools. Educational Researcher, 49(3), 198–211.
Dynarski, S. M., Nurshatayeva, A., Page, L. C., & Scott-Clayton, J. (2022). Addressing nonfinancial barriers to college access and success: Evidence and policy implications. NBER Working Paper No. 28935. National Bureau of Economic Research.
Geiser, S., & Studley, R. (2003). UC and the SAT: Predictive validity and differential impact of the SAT I and SAT II at the University of California. Educational Assessment, 8(1), 1–26.
Sackett, P. R., Kuncel, N. R., Arneson, J. J., Cooper, S. R., & Waters, S. D. (2009). Does socioeconomic status explain the relationship between admissions tests and post-secondary academic performance? Psychological Bulletin, 135(1), 1–22.
Westrick, P. A., Le, H., Robbins, S. B., Radunzel, J. M. R., & Schmidt, F. L. (2015). College performance and retention: A meta-analysis of the predictive validities of ACT scores, high school grades, and SES. Educational Assessment, 20(1), 23–45.