The pandemic brought new policies around applying to colleges, many of which are here to stay. One new policy was the wave of “test-optional” applications due to lack of access to safe testing centers during the pandemic. But that one is slowly fading away.

Yale University recently decided to begin requiring test scores as a part of their application, beginning in next year’s 2024-2025  application cycle. Yale joins schools like Dartmouth, MIT, and Tennessee.

Test-optional policies caused a huge inflation in the number of applications received by competitive schools nationwide. Yale saw a 10% increase in applications this cycle compared to the 2022-23 cycle.

Although multiple schools were moving to test-optional policies before the pandemic (Bowdin, Dickinson, Emerson,) the majority of highly selective schools require the SAT or ACT.

The effects of the pandemic on college education is still present, since most colleges state to remain test-optional.

So what does this mean for students applying to schools now requiring scores?

Yale specifically, is not requiring only SAT/ACT, but will also accept AP or IB exam scores. Many other schools requiring scores will only accept SAT/ACT scores, so make sure to check each school’s testing policy before applying.

Juniors and sophomores need to start thinking about their testing timeframes if they are considering applying to schools who now require scores.

More and more schools are reverting back to test-required policies as the country makes its final moves out of the public health crisis, so the list is constantly changing.